


Cat's Got Your Tongue

by theSinTin



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Anal Sex, Fluff, Hux is a software Developer, Kylo is a security guard, M/M, Shapeshifter Kylo, Shapeshifting, Slow Burn, benarmie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-07-15 04:35:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7208003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theSinTin/pseuds/theSinTin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux is a workaholic who spends his nights staying hours after everyone else to get ahead on work, but otherwise has a comfortable job with great promise for promotions in the future. But he finds himself feeling bored with his late nights at the office. But then a certain quiet security guard begins to enter his life and add some excitement.</p><p>Almost too much excitement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had a thought one day while reading thousands upon thousands of fanfics. "What if Kylo Ren was a shapeshifter?" And it went from there.
> 
> This is based in a world for my specific species of shapeshifters, known as Human Nymphs. The rest of the world is completely normal and unaware. Things will be explained as I go, but feel free to hit up my tumblr if you have a specific question (as long as it's not spoilery, of course!). There is much more to come, I will be adding tags as I go.

Hux glanced down at the small alarm clock on his desk, sighing at the time. All his coworkers had already left for the day and, as per usual, he was staying late to finish up projects. Hux looked back at his computer screen, a page full of code glared back at him. He felt frustrated, unable to understand the mistake in the coding for this project. He knew he had to get it done, but he just couldn't seem to understand what was wrong.

Hux knew he should take a break. Hell, he knew he should be heading home by now. But he was stubborn, knew that he could be ahead for this week's work if he could just fix this error. But he just, couldn't. He felt dejected, staring at the screen. His mind wandered for a second, looking at what he was doing with his life.

He was in his 30's, having a few years under his belt at his current job as a software developer at a company, developing a more efficient method for cloud storage. He was receiving consistent praise from the higher ups within the company, knew he could progress up in the next two years, possibly next year. That would lead to an increase in salary, which would make all the long nights he had put in all the more worth it.

And yet, he felt bored. He felt stagnant in his current job, like he wasn't really going anywhere even though he was. He couldn’t shake the feeling he wasn't. Or maybe it was his life in general? It's not like he did much outside of work. Since moving to this city, he rarely left his house past work and grocery necessities. He would occasionally humor the idea of spending his weekends visiting a bar to meet more people, since as of the moment, his only companionship was his work acquaintances and his cat, Millicent. But when considering the bar or some other public location, he just knew it wasn't really his scene. Introverted at heart, he supposed, and he just simply didn't have time for friends.

He knew he was a workaholic, it sort of came from his upbringing. It just felt normal for him to spend most of his waking hours working. Doing things with meaning, even working on code at home on his weekends. Given that, he may have found the reason he was bored at work.

Even if he did feel bored at his job, what did it matter? He couldn't exactly change it. Sure, he could look for another job, but it would be the same thing, just a different location. He could still look for outside excitement, once again considering visiting a bar. But no. Maybe he could just consider spending some time with a colleague outside of work...

Hux became so lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice another human joining him on the floor. After a few more moments, he noticed quiet movement over the cubicle wall. Leaning up to look over, he saw Kylo Ren. The afternoon security guard, Hux had seen him several times during his late night stays. He knew little of the man, simply that he came on shift later afternoon and stayed until ten at night, handing off with the overnight security then.

The man was, as Hux assumed, only a bit taller than he was, but almost twice his size in terms of bulk. Wild raven colored locks on his head, a small security guard hat resting on top. Almost hidden by his wild hair were his ears sticking out from it. His face was odd in itself, large nose, fairly plump lips, and large expressive eyes. Kylo also had beauty marks speckling his face, almost giving youthful look to him, impossible to assume his age. He would have been a lot less intimidating for his job if it hadn’t been for the very large scar that bisected his face. Running from his bottom right jaw, slashing its way to just under his right eye and ending above the bridge of his nose. It slightly aged him, but also gave him the more intimidating face that a nightly security guard needed. 

Ren never really spoke to Hux, which Hux was somewhat thankful for. When Ren did speak, it was always in simple one liners, asking Hux how the night was going. But he also made it obvious he cared little for the answer, just attempting to be polite. Other than that, he seemed to just wander and do his job, allowing Hux the peace and quiet he needed to finish his job so he may leave.

Hux rested back in his seat, trying not to stare at the large shadow roaming the floor now. He focused back on the task. Then checked the time...only to realize it was almost 8pm. How did he end up staying for an extra three hours? And still not get the code correct?? Hux sighed heavily in annoyance, still staring at the screen. He had basically wasted three hours for nothing...

“Everything well tonight?” Hux jumped lightly in his chair, turning around to see Kylo Ren at the cubicle entrance. He looked curiously at Hux's computer screen, obviously trying to examine the code but not knowing what any of it meant.

“Yes, quite alright.” Hux responded with another soft sigh. “I'll be leaving shortly, I'll alert you when I need to be let out.” he said, thinking Ren was here to ask when he was departing so he could let him out.

“Just let me know,” Kylo replied, still examining the other man's face. “Staying here later and later, I notice.” Ren offhandedly said, leaving the entrance of the door more. “You should really take a break.”

Hux made a face of annoyance, thankful Ren left so he didn't have to see it. Tch, how dare he comment on his hours, he likely didn't even know what job Hux had. He was just a security guard, how would he really know?

Hux grumbled as he turned in his chair to face the screen again, hands going to his hair as he stared. Words, numbers, symbols, all blending together. Nothing making sense. Maybe he should take a break, or just go home and worry about this tomorrow...

Hux was about to flip his keyboard in frustration, when he once again noticed someone in his space. He turned, to once again see Kylo Ren at the entrance of his cubicle, but this time he was holding up a box of donut holes and a bottle of water. Hux looked at him confused, turning his head slightly.

Ren seemed to remembered to speak, after seeing the confused expression. “You can have some, if you want.” he said, holding out the box closer to Hux. “I got them before I came in, but since you're here so late, I figured you could use a snack break.”

Hux raised an eyebrow questionably. He was rather hungry. This was also probably the most he'd heard Ren speak. Strange, but. “Thank you.” Hux replied, grabbing the box. Ren then handed him the bottle of water and some napkins. Hux opened the box, seeing that most of them had been picked through, but grabbed a couple of the ones he wanted and placed them on an opened napkin on his desk. He closed the box, returning to Ren who still stood at the door. Thanking him again, Hux waited for Ren to leave before he started to eat.

But noticed him linger.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Ren spoke again. “So, what do you do here that causes you to stay so much longer than everyone else?”

Hux looked questionably at the other man again. Ren must have been more bored tonight than average if he was talking to Hux. “I stay longer to finish projects weeks before their deadlines.” Hux explained. “I guess most of the others here are content with finishing projects barely on time, but I'm not.”

“Hmm” Ren hummed, looking at the screen, still clearly unsure what any of it meant. “Just curious, since you're the only one that stays.”

“Yes well,” Hux shrugged. “I don't want to come back tomorrow to an uncompleted project.”

“Taking breaks helps clear the mind, especially when you sleep.” Ren mumbled, turning to leave finally. “Maybe in the morning, you can finish it.” He left Hux's space once more, but called to him before reaching the elevator. “I'm going to be at my counter, let me know when you're ready.”

Hux made another face. That was odd. Kylo never tried to talk to him. Especially not to be offering him food and water. He briefly wondered if his workload for the night was really that light or if he was just burning time and needed a distraction.

But back to the task at hand. Hux turned to the screen again, going to bite into one of the donuts holes. And he stared at the screen. And stared.

Hux decided to take Kylo's advice, and packed his stuff up to leave. Maybe in the morning he could figure it out.

\--------------

Hux woke up in the morning feeling a lot better than he had the night before. He wasn’t sure if it was just the sleep or being away from work. Or possibly it was the time he had spent with Millicent upon coming home. His precious ginger tabby always knew just how to cheer him up, after all. 

He arrived to work an hour early, as per usual, being allowed into the building after clearing through the morning security guard. He was basically the only person who ever arrived this early past his higher ups. Hux always felt that this was a small way of showing his dedication to the company, as well as allowing him to finish projects faster than his colleagues. It was win-win in Hux’s opinion. Sure it cut time out of his life, but it was always worth it.

Hux made the trek back to his cubicle, feeling far more ready to work on the project from the night before. He entered the cubicle, hanging his coat up and placing his briefcase on his desk before noticing something amiss. 

Near his computer screen was a candy bar that hadn’t been there the night before. Hux wasn’t particularly a fan of sweets, but did someone leave this for him? He picked up the candy, it being just a simple bar of chocolate from the vending machine, he assumed, then noticed a small note under the bar. He grabbed the note to read, having a hard time reading the handwriting.

_Don’t work yourself so hard.  
-Kylo_

Huh. 

Hux wasn’t really sure what to make of this apparent gift. He briefly wondered if he had looked particularly overworked the night before. Because otherwise, why would Ren take the time to leave him a gift?

Kylo had been working at his company for a little over a year. He didn’t make much of an impact on the team, so Hux had only really noticed his existence when he started to stay later at work. The previous afternoon guard would try to encourage Hux to leave the building in a more timely manner, always asking how long he planned on staying and overall making Hux feel rushed. Kylo, on the other hand,  
didn’t seem to particularly care at all, and avoided speaking. So to Hux’s opinion, Kylo was his preferred security guard on late nights.

But now he was leaving him a gift, why? He guessed he might as well accept it. He assumed there was no alternative motive, considering they rarely spoke.

Hux tried to ease back into work, pulling up the project from the night before. He reviewed it once more, with refreshed eyes and immediately saw the error in the code.

He guessed that Kylo was right.

\------------

The day continued like nothing had happened the day before. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, it was the same old, same old. And it was boring, Hux thought. That same longing feeling from the night before was back, mind silently begging for a change of pace. He took a moment to think, considering he was now a week ahead on his projects. It was Friday, he could very well try and do something with a colleague or whatnot. But who? Who at this job would be tolerable outside of this place, and second who would want to spend time with him?

As if to answer his mind’s unspoken question, he heard a knock at his cubicle wall. He turned in his chair to see Phasma in the opening. Phasma was the stunning tall blonde a few cubicles down, Hux had spoken to her on a few occasions before. Mostly in passing, or on a lunch break if Hux had actually decided to sit in the breakroom, instead of at his desk. She was brilliant from their few conversations. He looked at her questionably, wondering if he had forgotten to submit something that caused her to be here.

“Evening Hux,” she spoke sharp, almost sending a chill down his spine. “You planning on spending all night here again?” She spoke with a tone of slight mockery, already putting Hux on edge.

“Not tonight,” he responded quickly. “Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” she replied. “I’m just always being told about how you're here for hours. Makes me wonder if you even do anything outside of work.”

Hux huffed, trying to not show his annoyance but it still came out as he spoke with slight snark. “Well, it-s no ones business but mine if I’m here longer and what I do in my personal life.”

Phasma held up her hand in a stop motion, smiling at him softly. “Calm down, I’m just asking.” She spoke softer, her tone confusing Hux. “Look, I’m actually here to see if you wanted to come drinking with some of us after work. I don’t think anyone else has asked you before, everyone thinking you just live here and all. But how about it?”

Hux looked at her, sort of annoyed at his colleagues apparently assuming he was a workaholic. Granted, they weren't exactly wrong. But anyway, her question. Did he have plans? Of course not. Did he want to? Well this might answer that thought he kept having about being bored and needing something to do. Something else to focus his attentions on. Why not?

“Sure.” He finally answered after a long pause. “Can’t promise I'll stay long. I'm fairly busy.” He wanted to keep the idea among coworkers that he did, in fact, have a life.

“Great,” she replied, a happy flourish to her voice. “I’ll tell you the plan after we’re all off. See you then,” she waved gently as she left, leaving Hux feeling odd.

He wasn’t exactly sure if that was her flirting with him or not. He never could tell with women in general. Or men, he silently added. He wanted to assume she was just being polite, nodding at the thought. It made the most sense, and even if she was flirting with him? Tch, he hardly had the time for a relationship, so she was barking up the wrong tree.

When it came to quitting time, Hux had finished all the work he needed to before the weekend. He had a few printed papers that he quickly stuffed into his briefcase, also stashing the chocolate bar that he hadn't touched yet with them. He also kept the note, even though it was written on a sticky note taken from his own desk, he felt like he shouldn’t just crumble it up and throw it away. 

Phasma met him at the elevator, waving at him. “Happy you decided to attend,” she told him with a smile. 

“It's no problem as long as I can leave as needed.” He replied, wanting to be able to escape as necessary. Keeping in mind not to overdrink, if he decided to drink at all.

“Won't be an issue,” she told him, before starting to tell him of the bar they planned on going to. It sounded like a local Irish pub, not sounding particularly interesting but Hux hasn’t been to a bar in years. Phasma began listing off coworkers who were going to be attending as they went down the elevator. Hux, sadly, didn’t recognize any of the names, not that he would ever admit it. 

Upon leaving the elevator, they walked past the security desk to check out. Kylo sat there, checking them off as leaving, nodding them both through. Inexplicably, Hux felt compelled to talk, remembering the gift. “Thank you, Ren.” Hux spoke in passing, looking to the other man. He saw Ren perk up, looking curious before nodding back. Both him and Phasma left.

“You talk to Kylo?” She asked with a questionable tone.

“He lets me stay late, so I guess you can say that.” Hux responded, not really able to say they talk. It was only the once, really.

“Hmm.” She hummed in response. “He’s an odd one for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak before. Nor has many others who work here.”

“Really?” Hux asked. He knew Kylo rarely spoke, but he didn’t realize he never talked to anyone else.

“So he does talk right?” Phasma asked as they got to their cars. “We were all starting to think we hired a mute.”

“Yeah he does.” Hux responded, starting to feel further confused about the interaction last night. Hux had more questions he wanted answers to now, but they both got into their cars and made their way out of the parking garage. Hux decided to head home first, wanting to feed Millie and change to better bar clothes. On the way, he couldn’t help to wonder how this night was going to go...

\-----------------------------------

Not well. The night went not well. 

Hux sighed as he plopped down onto his bed, groaning into the pillow. He was only slightly buzzed, not wanting to drive home drunk or having to call a cab. But the music in the bar had given him a headache. 

He was quickly reminded at the bar exactly why he didn’t go to them. He was exhausted between the music, the co-workers trying to make awkward conversation with him, and the few other bar goers who decided to try their luck and flirt with Hux. They were quickly shot down with Hux’s snarky attitude and cold demeanor, Hux not wanting anything to do with it.

Hux knew he wasn’t unattractive. He was tall, on the thinner side in terms of build but he never made it obvious under his work attire. Fiery orange hair slicked neatly over with hair gel, giving him a very clean cut impression. His pale face dusted with freckles that were hidden under just the right light. He was exactly what he assumed a lot of people would be interested in. But he simply just wasn’t interested. He was busy making a career for himself, when would he ever have time to go on dates and have social conversations? He hardly had time to spend with Millicent. 

Whatever that night was meant to be, it for sure wasn’t what his mind wanted in his effort to be less bored. He sighed, crawling further up on the bed and kicking off his pants. Face planting once more in the pillows, he tried to let himself fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux and Ren slowly get to know each other more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this at work, I'm so bad.

It became Monday almost too quickly for Hux’s tastes, but it wasn’t like he had much to do outside of work anyways. He sighed, falling back into routine, sitting at his desk and working. Today he had decided to change it up, sitting in the breakroom and trying to talk to Phasma. He found that when alcohol and other colleagues weren't involved, she was a very easy person to talk to. He tried to focus his topics on work, avoiding personal life as much as possible. Which she didn’t seem too bothered by, directing the conversation into sports and lightly into politics. He found out that Phasma was part of a local softball team. Hux considered joining for a second, before laughing it off mentally. He wasn’t good at sports, but it was a nice thought. 

Lunch with Phasma seemed to help him focus on work, but also left him behind schedule. Well, not an actual work schedule, he was a week ahead for that. But his personal work schedule, wanting to finish another project soon. So, once again, he was staying late at the office. He silently watched as all his co-workers left the floor, no one taking a second glance as Hux continued to sit at his computer and type away. 

About an hour into his stay, he noticed Kylo Ren on the floor again. Doing a routine sweep, Hux assumed. But now Hux was reminded of his and Phasma’s conversation a few nights before. How apparently Ren never spoke to people, which was still a curious thought. He wondered if Hux was just special or if people who did speak to Kylo just didn’t brag. After having the thought that he was somehow special, he mentally laughed at the idea and decided that the latter idea had to be true.

Hux ignored the presence on the floor, trying to focus on his work. This wasn’t like the other night at least, he could most likely leave in another half hour and finish up in the morning. He tried his best to focus on typing away on the computer before pausing, suddenly feeling like he was being watched. He tried to push the thought from mind, but failed. He decided to take a quick glance around his surroundings, to dismiss the feeling. He turned quickly in his chair, noticing Ren a few cubicles down. He briefly made eye contact with Hux before turning and continuing his sweep.

That was odd, but not really out of the ordinary he supposed. He turned to work again, noticing Ren leaving the floor, the action putting him more at ease. He sighed, going back to work.

It was quiet, until fifteen minutes passed. And he felt that feeling again. His imagination must have been acting up, Ren only cycled the floors once every hour. So he pushed it out of mind. Nonetheless, he kept feeling someone in his space, and turned around quickly in his chair.

He was met with Kylo Ren, in the doorway and looking out of place. Hux glanced down and saw a bag of fast food in one hand, a water bottle in the other. Hux turned his head curiously.

“Do you like chicken nuggets?” Ren simply asked, looking to Hux’s face for an answer.

Ren, who apparently never spoke to other people, was at his cubicle, offering him chicken nuggets? This was just getting strange. 

Though, Hux would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t a little hungry. Which is part of the reason he wanted to leave earlier than he usually did. Hux was reluctant to answer, since it was simply an odd offer. But, “I do.”

“Would you like some?” Ren offered, holding the bag out to him.

“Sure,” Hux responded, grabbing the bag and opening it up. Noticing there was at least five boxes in the bag, what the hell? “Um,” Hux tried to respond, unsure. “These aren't all for me, right?”

Hux then saw something unusual, Ren’s face seemed to turn to something unsure, embarrassment? Hux couldn’t quite describe the emotion, as expressive as Ren's face was. “N-No, but you can have a box.” Ren replied sheepishly.

Hux nodded, grabbing a box and a dipping sauce since there was at least eight of those in the bag as well before returning it to Ren. “Thank you,” Hux told him, knowing not to comment on the other four boxes. From the looks of them, they were eight piece boxes. So did Ren plan on eating forty chicken nuggets?

Ren took the bag and held it gingerly, looking Hux over with what seemed to be a sense of nervousness. Again, like the last time, Ren seemed reluctant to leave. Ren decided to break the silence, noticing the awkwardness that was building. “Another late night project?” he asked, grabbing a box from the bag of food and resting the rest on the ground. Opening it up he started to snack, leaning against the doorway of Hux’s cubicle. 

“It won't be like last time,” Hux assured him. He decided to join Ren in what seemed like a quick snack time for them, opening his box and starting to nibble on one of the nuggets. Kylo didn’t respond to him, instead staying silent and eating. Hux decided, while they were being strangely amicable, to try getting some answers out of him, not caring if they were awkward. “So,” he started, getting Ren’s attention. “You don’t talk much, huh?”

He saw Ren look obviously nervous, seeming to think of a response before saying it. “Not to others, no.” Ren responded, shoving more food in his mouth, avoiding eye contact.

“You do seem the quiet type.” Hux commented. “Security guard a pretty good job for you then?”

Ren nodded, still chewing, responding after he swallowed, “Overnight would be even nicer, no people.”

“Why not switch to that?” Hux asked curiously. Ren didn’t seem to like people much, much like himself, he silently added.

“I like my current shift.” Ren responded, not saying anything past that, just eating.

Ren was hard to talk to, he found. But he was surprised that Ren was lingering, eating in his company. “Another colleague told me that people were starting to think you were mute.” Hux brought up, “I was surprised by that, since you always talked to me.”

Ren tried to avoid looking at Hux still. Talking after finishing the entire box of snacks, “You're easy to talk to.” Ren simply replied, before grabbing what was left of his food and turning to leave. “Let me know when it's time for you to go.” He said, not waiting for a response from Hux before running off again.

This left Hux with amazingly no answers to his questions. He was surprised to hear that he was easy to talk to. He had never heard that one before. But maybe two introverts made good company? He silently pondered the idea of spending time outside of work with Ren, before nixing it quickly. He hardly knew anything about Ren, that would just lead to a extremely quiet interaction. He wanted excitement, he thought, anyway, and Ren wouldn’t be able to provide that.

Hux didn’t dwell on the thought for long, turning to his computer and starting to work to finish the project, not feeling as pressured to leave now, with fast food in him. Not the best, but it would do.

\-----------------------

 

Ren ate a lot, apparently.

Hux began to notice it the more time he spent after work. It was becoming a regular routine with Ren. He would stop by his cubicle and offer him some of his food, which ranged quite a bit, from fast food like chinese and burgers, to just general sweets like candy or donuts. Whatever food that was offered, Ren had a lot of it set aside for himself. Hux tried to tell himself that he probably planned on eating it over several days. But even when he spent several nights in a row working overtime, Ren had something new each night. He tried the excuse that he needed to eat a lot for his size, but still it didn’t add up.

Also, he still wasn’t sure why Ren was spending so much time with him. Hux stayed on edge with every interaction, trying to figure out if Ren had alternative motives. But, as far as Hux could tell, there were none. None that made sense anyway. Ren’s lack of talking didn’t help neither.

He was currently sharing some boxes of chinese take out in Hux’s cubicle, Ren kneeling on the ground as they ate in silence. Which most of their time spent together was, silence. Hux didn’t mind, he just wished he knew why any of this was happening.

Hux turned to the time, seeing that it was quickly approaching 9pm. It was Friday night, at the very least so Hux knew that he didn’t have to come in early again the next day. The food would help him at least finish work so he had a very early start for the next week. Maybe he could avoid doing work at home again.

Ren spoke up suddenly, noticing the time as well. “It’s getting late.” he said, starting to get up. Apparently have finished the whole box, he somehow had two more in the bag for himself. 

“Indeed.” Hux responded, closing the top on his as he decided he was done. “I’ll be leaving soon.”

Ren was quiet for a second, grabbing Hux’s box silently as he handed it over to him. He was always being nice enough to get rid of the trash for him. Ren lingered for a second at the exit, before speaking. “You always stay so late.” Ren commented. Hux was ready to respond, tell Ren that he had to for his job. Ren spoke again. “Do you have someone feed your cat for you? Or do they have to wait until you get home?”

Hux was about to speak, tell him that Millicent was very patient about her dinner time. Realization came in a flash.

He never told Ren he had a cat.

Hux never spoke of his personal life to Ren. Or anyone at the company. “How did you know I had a cat?” Hux asked suddenly, looking sharply at Ren, studying his face.

Hux saw a flash of panic on Ren’s face, before he tried to switch it to something more neutral. “You told me about them, a while ago...” Ren replied, again avoiding eye contact.

Hux was about to call him out, tell him he never spoke of his personal life, but Ren was backing out of his space. “Just let me know when you’re ready to leave.” he hastily told him. Hux tried to speak up, thwarted when Ren quickly left the area to go to the stairs.

Hux was rather confused now. How could Ren know he had a cat? He never came to work with cat fur on him, making very sure his clothes were clean. He didn’t post on social media at all. Never told co-workers. How could he have known?

The thought unsettled him, mind racing to possible stalker tendencies for Ren. He quickly dismissed that, it didn’t make sense. But Ren knowing he had a cat didn’t make sense either.

He decided to finish up work and go home. His mind still racing, he didn’t even say anything to Ren as he let him out. Thankfully, Ren didn’t either.

\-------------

“Hey, Phasma.” Hux spoke softly to her, catching her attention. “What do you know exactly, about Ren?”

It was at the end of the lunch period for everyone. Most people were either on their way out of the breakroom, or already left. Meaning Hux could talk to her, see if he could question her about the very unusual security guard. Phasma was quickly becoming a good colleague to talk to, so he could trust her to not gossip about this with other people, not that there was really anything to gossip about.

“What about him?” she asked, in a quiet voice, picking up that Hux wanted this on the downlow.

“You know, just. Anything.” Hux asked. He hadn’t spoken to her about Ren since their last conversation. So he wasn’t really sure where to start. 

She shrugged in response, looking up in thought. “All I know about him is that his name is Kylo Ren, though everyone here seems to think that name’s fake. From what everyone here gossips about, he’s never spoken a word to anyone, past you apparently. So, really no one knows anything.” She went quiet for a second, looking at him questionably. “Why do you ask?”

Hux was hesitant to talk. But really, the event last Friday night kind of had him worried. He needed to talk to someone. Everyone had left the breakroom at this point. “He talks to me a lot now...” Hux quietly replied. Phasma lifted an eyebrow curiously, listening intently. “He doesn’t say a whole lot. But recently, he’s been talking to me more. And he even shares his food with me at night.”

“Sounds like you already know about him than any of us do.” she replied. “So why are you asking me?”

“He, um.” Hux wasn’t sure how to word this. “He’s, odd. Last Friday, when I stayed late after work again. He asked me about my cat. And,” Hux’s voice sounded a bit more panicked. “I’ve never told him about my cat. Or anyone. Not even you knew I had a cat, right?” He saw her shake her head, unaware. “Okay right, so how did he know?”

Phasma looked at Hux, seeming to try and think of an answer for him. It was clear she was coming up blank as well. “Did you ask him how he knew?”

“He told me that I told him before, which I most certainly didn’t. He ran off before I could correct that, so very odd behavior...”

“I’m not sure, Hux.” she told him. “But maybe just try and ask him again? That is odd, how he knew. But maybe he just assumed you were a cat person. You do kind of come off as one to me.”

Hux nodded, maybe that was it. Maybe it was just Ren’s weird way of asking him if he had a cat. Though his response wouldn’t have made sense, but not a lot of things made sense about Ren.

He decided to end the conversation there, they needed to return to work. They cleaned up and left the room, Phasma nodding to him as they went their separate ways to their cubicles. Hux felt slightly more reassured, but couldn’t shake the minor worry. He was hoping nothing else odd would come up with Ren…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up at tumblr. I'm open to comments and ideas!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's sex in this chapter. Big thanks to [@Vmprsm](http://vmprsm.tumblr.com/) for beta'ing this again!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who left comments on the previous chapters! I'm just so bad at responding to comments (and I don't want to accidentally give too much away about the mystery, hehe). I really do appreciate comments though!
> 
> Trigger warning: Blood is mentioned a bit, it's nothing too extreme but it's there.

Hux did the natural thing anyone in this situation would do; he avoided it.

 

It had been a couple of weeks since Kylo’s and his last exchange. Hux had started to skip lunches with Phasma to work on projects, just to avoid staying late at work. If Hux did stay late, it was only for half an hour at most. He knew Ren spent that time checking out other colleagues and doing the paperwork that accompanied. Once his work was complete, Hux would simply leave the building, exchanging a brief nod with Ren before exiting. 

 

It was awkward, he could tell in Ren’s overly expressive eyes, that he wanted to talk to Hux. Try and clear up the last conversation they had. But, really, Hux wanted to just avoid it until it was forgotten. Whatever it may have been, Ren making an assumption and wording it weird, or whatever possible other means he had found out Hux had a cat, Hux didn’t want to know.

 

It was currently Friday, Hux spending another lunch at his desk. He was staring at his computer screen, shoving a sandwich in his mouth absentmindedly, when he felt a hand being slammed firmly down on the back of his chair. He jerked, startled, before being twirled around to face Phasma. 

 

“Where’ve you been?” she asked, smiling softly at Hux. Trying to seem friendly.

 

Hux swallowed the food he had in his mouth. “Uh,” he started, feeling nervous for some reason, “been working on my lunches, have quite a lot of work to complete.”

 

“Oh, really?” she asked, producing her own lunch and going to kneel in the corner of his work space, much like Ren would, apparently having lunch with him. “Is it because you aren’t staying late after work anymore?” He looked at her with surprised, about to ask how she knew. Before he could she said “I see you leave before me some days now. Have you not talked to Ren?”

 

“No...” he responded after a pause. This was not exactly the conversation he wanted to be having right now. But, from what he knew about Phasma in their so far brief friendship, she wasn’t going to drop it.

 

“Well,” she started. “as much as I encourage you to not stay so late, so you can go out and have a life, I would rather keep enjoying lunches with you.” she shrugged. “Not like I exactly have easy pickings for conversational partners here.” She took a drink from her water bottle, before continuing. “You know, Ren looks upset every time I leave now.” she commented. “Like someone kicked his puppy, you guys should probably talk.”

 

Hux scoffed at that. “I’m not his friend, Phasma. I shouldn’t have to coddle him because he made a stalkerish comment to me.” He took another bite of his sandwich, mulling it over. “I’ll talk to him eventually.” Hux stated. “Just, not right now. Just been stressed, and his comment didn’t help, you know?”

 

Phasma hummed in response, finishing what was left of her sandwich before getting up and collecting her trash. “Well,” she smiled, placing a hand on Hux’s shoulder. “Let’s get you destressed then, hmm?” she asked with a smile. “I’m taking you out tonight.”

 

Hux could not control the blush as it overcame his face, “Umm…!” he stammered out. “P-Phasma, I-”

 

She cut him off, “Not like a date, you dolt.” she smirked at him. “To a bar. Just me and you, so none of the other guys here see us. And maybe you can find someone to help with destressing, hmm?” She asked with a wide smirk, turning to leave and waving him bye. “Be ready at five, we’re leaving on time to hit the bars~”

 

Hux didn’t even have time to stop her before she left, groaning in an annoyed manner to himself. He didn’t need THAT kind of destressing… Or, well. It had been awhile. Well over a year now since his last relationship. And that relationship didn’t necessarily last long because of his work schedule. 

 

But there was no way he could go to a bar to pick someone up. Or, well he could. But not with Phasma. At least it wasn’t with the other coworkers this time. He guessed Phasma would certainly help him if he asked. 

 

He sighed, he was doing this. He turned to look at his computer screen, continuing to work. He was still at least a week ahead of schedule and all, but he wanted to keep it that way. To go out to a bar and leave here on time, he had to hurry to finish. This would hopefully relax him, Hux thought. Maybe enough to finally confront Ren, come Monday. That was a thought…

 

\-----------   
  
“Wait, why do you want to come to my apartment?” Hux asked Phasma as they rode the elevator down to the first floor. It was quitting time, and Hux was only ten minutes late for their scheduled departure. 

 

“Duh, to help you with your bar clothing?” she explained. “Last time you went, you looked ready for a business meeting.” 

 

“My bad for wanting to still seem presentable around colleagues.” Hux complained.

 

The elevator stopped on the first floor, doors opening for them to exit. They walked, side by side, out towards the entrance to the parking garage, passing by the security desk to be checked out first. Ren sat at his desk, glancing up and checking the two off for leaving and nodded them out. Phasma turned to leave, Hux about to follow as well before, he saw Ren’s hand raise up, catching Hux’s attention. 

 

Hux felt his anxiety spike, hoping that Ren wasn’t about to try talking to him about the avoiding him thing. But, instead, he saw Ren look down to his desk, scribbling something out on a sticky note before he handed the note to Hux, a small smile forming on his lips. He nodded Hux out, who nodded back. Not looking at the note until he was safely away from Ren, he held it up to read.

 

_ Have a nice weekend (: _

 

Hux wasn’t sure what he was more surprised about. The fact that Ren was wishing him a nice weekend, or the little smiley face he had drawn on the note. He knew Ren didn’t talk around others, and with Phasma being around, it made sense he’d talk via writing. But why would Ren wish him a great weekend, when Hux was very obviously avoiding him?

 

Hux began to feel bad for ignoring the other man. He had felt bad before, avoiding because he wasn’t sure what to say. But Ren seemed to want to talk about it, and make things better.

 

At least it was good motivation for him to fix the situation, come Monday. 

 

Hux told Phasma his address as she got into her car, knowing he wasn’t going to get out of her coming over. He felt a bit nervous, but he felt this was going to be good for him in the end.

 

\----   
  
They finally arrived at the bar around 7pm, mostly after Phasma raided his closet and found clothes he hadn’t worn in almost years near the back. He felt ridiculous wearing the old things, but they were far more suitable bar clothes than work shirts and slacks. He wore a sleek pair of black skinny jeans and a dark blue tank top. He felt almost out of place in the bar, until he looked around and saw the other bar goers. This bar seemed to be a younger crowd compared to the other one they had visited before. There was even a live band playing, making the atmosphere fairly relaxed and cheerful. He’d have to thank Phasma for taking him to this one instead of the last.

 

The two took their seats at the bar, deciding to get started on the night with some quick shots. Hux sipped at his and glanced over at Phasma, who was scanning the room curiously. They hadn’t talked too much on the way here, Hux honestly not sure what brought this little trip up. But so far, this was already a far better experience. So, he had no complaints.

 

“So, Hux.” Phasma started, starting to sip at her shot too. “What IS your preference, anyway?” Hux gave her a confused look, not really sure what she was talking about. She moved her hand in a gesture as she spoke, “You know? Men, women?”

 

Oh. “Uh,” Hux wasn’t sure how to reply, feeling his face heat up a bit. It wasn’t that he was in the closet or anything. As much as anything else, he always wanted to avoid discussing that with coworkers. Though, Phasma was becoming obviously more of a friend. “I guess I prefer men, but I’m not opposed to women.” he answered, honestly. 

 

“Hmm,” she hummed to herself. “I honestly just assumed you were gay, so that’s good.” She smiled playfully at him. “Means it’ll be easier to find you someone tonight.”

 

Hux tried to not make a face at that. He was still on edge about looking tonight, despite the fact that his body was yelling at him to find someone. But his mind just reminded him how he was busy and how one night stands were never all that good, and what if things got awkward. Hux decided to redirect the conversation, finishing his shot. “How about you then?” he asked, turning the question to her.

 

“Women only.” she smiled. Hux could have guessed that much, honestly. But he wasn’t too sure, best not to assume. “Maybe we’ll move to a gay bar later, I didn’t want to start off on that, in case I was wrong on assuming for you.”

 

“Appreciated.” he replied, dryly. Looking around the bar, he didn’t really see anyone too interesting to talk to. At least Phasma could keep him company…

 

\----------   
  
After a few more shots, the two did end up moving to the gay bar a few roads down. Which, with Hux being a bit loosened up from the alcohol, ended up being a place where he was more willing to talk to strangers. The only issue, though, was that he didn’t find anyone interesting enough to maintain conversation with. Hux would end conversation quickly and then go back to Phasma to chat. Though, that plan ended when Phasma started flirting with a few girls by the dance floor. Hux definitely did not feel like dancing, deciding not to go anywhere near the floor. He sat alone at the bar, ordering another quick shot and checked the time. It was approaching 11pm, and honestly he was impressed that he had stayed out of his house even this long. 

 

Hux was growing bored though. Having lost his main conversational partner, and not being particularly impressed by anyone at this club, he was almost ready to go home. He glanced to Phasma one more time, still seeing her dancing with a shorter brunette girl. He figured he should just get himself an Uber and call it a night. 

 

His shot arrived then, which he turned to down quickly. He turned once more, giving a final scan of his surroundings. 

 

Then someone caught his eye.

 

The man couldn’t have been there for more than a few minutes, not since Hux’s last scan of the room. But Hux saw the man take a booth seat and sit down, seemingly to relax and start checking his own surroundings. The man had quite a messy mop of blonde hair on his head, sporting what seemed like an oversized pair of glasses. He wore exceedingly casual clothes, a pair of baggy dark blue jeans and a black tank top. Which, much to Hux’s actual delight, showed off the muscular arms that he sported. 

 

He was definitely Hux’s type.

 

Hux, with the liquid courage coursing through his veins, got up to go and greet the newcomer. Hux checked his outfit one more time, making sure everything looked good, before approaching the table. When he stood behind the blonde fellow, he gently cleared his throat. “Hello,” Hux started, seeing the other man twitch noticeably before he turned around. “I hope I’m not imposing, but you looked lonely over here,”

 

Seeing the man turn, Hux got to see his face up close. He had a large nose and big expressive brown eyes. He had a few beauty marks scattered on his face, but he looked gorgeous for it. And large lips that made Hux want to bite them. The man almost felt familiar, but Hux knew if he had seen him before, he’d remember him.

 

The man hadn’t replied. He just looked up at Hux, with a deeply shocked expression on his face. 

 

“Or, not.” Hux replied, thinking the man wasn’t interested. “Sorry for the intrusion-”

 

“No,” the man spoke, his voice gentler than what Hux had expected from such a large man. “Stay, you’re fine.”

 

Hux couldn’t help the smirk that grew across his lips, sitting across from the other man. He glanced up to the him, who still seemed almost uncomfortable. Was he not used to this sort of thing, maybe just really shy? Hux wasn’t sure, but he wanted to still give the man a try. “The name’s Hux, what brings you to this club tonight?”

 

The other man seemed reluctant to answer, biting his bottom lip with a canine before speaking. “I’m Matt, and I come here occasionally.”

 

So it wasn’t his first time, so why so shy? Sure, Hux hadn’t done this sort of thing in a few years, but he felt this was unusual. “Well Matt, let me get you a drink, you seem nervous.” Maybe drinking will loosen him up a bit.

 

“I don’t drink,” Matt was quick to respond. His fingers tapping at the table nervously. “I appreciate the offer, though.”

 

Hux eyed the man curiously. He was odd. He felt familiar, but Hux couldn’t figure out who he reminded him of. Matt seemed to avoid any eye contact possible with Hux. He made it verbally obvious that he didn’t mind his presence, but his behavior indicated otherwise. Was Hux just too tipsy or getting close to drunk, to really put the moves on him? Maybe so, maybe he should try cutting to the chase, since the whole point of this adventure was to get laid.

 

“Not here to drink, are you here to meet up with someone?” Hux asked, trying to stay casual.

 

Matt shrugged, still avoiding eye contact. “Not particularly.” he responded. 

 

There was more awkward silence between them. Hux didn’t stop gazing at Matt, and Matt still avoided eye contact, beside the occasional glances Hux caught. Maybe this was a failed attempt. “I’m going to go for the night.” Hux said, standing up. He watched Matt’s eyes dart up at him, an unreadable expression on his face. “I hope you have a good n-”

 

“I can walk you home.” Matt said, also standing up. Hux noticed that this man was just slightly taller than him, but was a lot bulkier than him. It only served to made Hux like him more. 

 

“I was going to get an Uber, actually.” Hux responded. He could see in Matt’s eyes that he was in fact interested. “But, I would not object to you accompanying me.”

 

Hux saw Matt nod, Hux smiling softly in triumph and started walking towards the door. He pulled out his phone and requested his ride. He also sent a quick text to Phasma, she had given him her number before they went on this adventure, to let her know he was heading out with someone. They then awkwardly stood next to one another outside of the club. Hux was staring into space, but could definitely feel the stare coming from Matt. Eyeing him up and down, trying to be subtle about it but failing. It was making things less one sided for Hux, knowing Matt wanted this too.

 

“So, what do you do?” Hux asked finally, the Uber taking awhile to arrive. “Work wise?”

 

Matt looked surprised at the question, hesitating before answering. “Cable technician.”

 

“Ah, good work?” Hux asked casually. Just trying to make conversation, and not particularly wanting to try anything out here in the open air. 

 

“Yeah, it’s nice.” Matt responded, moving a bit closer to Hux. Inching just close enough to create some contact between them. 

 

“I work in Software Development.” Hux answered a question Matt never asked. “It’s consistent work, means I don’t get to enjoy bars very often.”

 

“Unfortunate,” Matt responded. “Hopefully I can make your night worth the trip then.”

 

Hux wasn’t sure how to respond to that, especially as their Uber pulled up. They both got in, and proceeded to not really talk the entire trip. Hux still felt rather buzzed, sobering up a bit on the trip home with the silent man beside him.

 

\-----------   
  
It took Hux about two seconds of being inside his apartment before he was slamming Matt against the wall, leaning up to kiss him. 

 

Matt was surprised to say the least, but it didn’t take long before Hux felt Matt’s lips give way, allowing Hux’s tongue to enter. Hux’s hands began to wander on the other man, feeling his broad chest under his thin tank top, one hand going to grip at his bicep and just feeling how strong the other man was. It got Hux going, sliding a leg between Matt’s as he started to bite at the other man’s bottom lip. Hearing a whine escape the other man’s throat, Hux groaned himself as he started to move his kisses and bites down Matt’s neck, sucking on the flesh there.

 

Matt made a noise, like he had wanted to say something, but instead groaned and rocked his hips at Hux’s leg as Hux bit at a tendon in his neck. Matt seemed hesitant at first, but Hux soon felt rather large hands wandering his sides; one even going to grope his ass. Hux made a quiet pleasured noise against Matt’s neck in response, sucking hard at the flesh and hoping to leave marks. 

 

Matt jerked a bit, eyes opening and looking straight forward. Hux tried to draw his attention back to what they were doing, kissing at his neck. But even Hux stopped, when he heard a hiss from behind him.

 

Hux let go of Matt slowly, turning to see Millicent approaching them. Back arched, fur standing up on end, tail fluffed and whipping behind her as she hissed and growled at the two. “Millie?” he called to her, leaving Matt to approach her with an outreached hand. “Millie what’s wrong?”

 

Millicent seemed to completely ignore Hux’s presence, instead she moved around him to continue hissing and growling at Matt. Hux turned to look at Matt, who seemed extremely uncomfortable that there was suddenly a cat threatening to attack him. “I’m so sorry, she’s never done this before.” Hux tried to explain, grabbing her before she could get closer to Matt. “Let’s move to the bedroom, we can lock her out-”

 

Hux yelped as Millicent bit the hand that was supporting her, resulting in him dropping to the ground. She went right back to hissing at the other man. 

 

“Maybe I should go...” Matt mumbled, looking hesitant to stay when he was apparently pissing off Hux’s cat in some miraculous way by not moving.

 

“No, no. Just go to the bedroom and I’ll hold her, okay?” Hux tried to reassure Matt, there was no way he was getting cockblocked by his cat tonight. 

 

Matt nodded hesitantly, waiting for Hux to hold the cat down to leave the living room, following directions from Hux. He waited until he heard the bedroom door shut before letting go of Millicent, who turned at him and hissed, batting a paw at his hands. “What is wrong with you, Millicent?” Hux asked, wondering why his cat was trying to ruin his chances tonight. She just glared in response, looking in the direction of the bedroom. She seemed to lose interest, going to jump on the couch and curling up.

 

Hux took this chance, quickly leaving to follow Matt to the bedroom. He made sure Millicent hadn’t followed him, before he opened the door and quickly slipped in. He found Matt sitting patiently at the end of Hux’s bed, looking up when Hux entered. He gave a quick, but nervous, grin. “Your cat seems friendly.”

 

“She has honestly never done that before, I’m so sorry.” Hux responded, approaching Matt on the bed. The man still looked up at him, quiet. “She should be fine now, let’s just...” he mumbled, hand going to Matt’s chest. Spreading his fingers, he felt the muscles twitch under his hand. Matt’s expressive features shifted to one of desire. Hux was simply thankful that his cat didn’t end up ruining this after all.

 

Matt paused, like he was about to say something again, before he sniffed the air obviously, looking down to Hux’s hand on his chest. Before Hux could respond, Matt grabbed the hand and held it up to his face, turning it to see where Millicent had bit him before. It had formed a few beads of blood at the puncture sites. Hux met Matt’s eyes, about to draw his hand back and say he was going to clean it and apologize. 

 

But he saw Matt’s tongue dart out, licking the blood clean from his hand.

 

Hux’s expression twisted with surprise, confusion, and a bit of arousal. That shouldn’t have turned him on, he should take his hand back and clean it. It was unsanitary. Je stalled, seeing Matt’s tongue in a repeat appearance, cleaning the blood that welled up again, Hux couldn’t deny he found it terribly arousing.

 

Hux didn’t stop himself when he pulled his wrist from Matt’s hand, placing it on the other man’s shoulder and shoved him to the bed, crawling on top of him and placing his free hand over the man’s groin. Palming his crotch, he felt that Matt was apparently half hard. Matt whined under him, hands going to start to work Hux’s shirt off slowly, pushing it up his chest. Hux went back to his task from earlier, starting to suck bruises into the other man’s neck a rolling his hips on the thigh he straddled.

 

Hux’s right hand moved to cup Matt’s face as he moved up to kiss at the man’s plump lips. It earned a groan from him, rocking his hips into Hux’s other hand. The hand on the cheek moved further on the man’s head, getting to Matt’s ear, before he felt Matt jerk away from the movement. A noise came from Matt’s throat that sounded vaguely like a growl, Matt making eye contact before speaking, a scowl on his face, “Don’t touch the ears.”

 

Hux looked confused down at the other man. “Sorry?” Hux responded, “Why?”

 

“Just don’t or I’m leaving.” Matt warned, pushing Hux up into a sitting position. 

 

“Fine, sorry.” Hux huffed. Way to ruin the mood. “Anything else I should know?”

 

Matt pushed himself up on his arms, looking up to Hux. His features began to soften, looking away. “No…sorry, they’re just really sensitive and unpleasant. So don’t touch them, even to tease, okay?”

 

Hux nodded, the mood hurt from that interruption. They made eye contact, Matt reaching up to hold Hux’s sides again. Sitting up, he kissed at Hux’s neck, apparently wanting to fix it. 

 

“Lube.” Hux started, gasping as he felt Matt bite at his neck. “L-Let me get the lube,” Hux continued, managing to escape Matt’s grasp long enough to crawl on the bed to the nightstand. Opening it, he grabbed a condom and a half empty bottle of lube; but felt the weight on the bed shifting. Hux glanced behind him to see Matt, now standing, removing his shirt, pulling it over his head and looking to Hux. Hux couldn’t tear his eyes away, seeing the man’s impressive display. Matt seemed amused by Hux’s stare, tossed the shirt to the ground and started working on his belt and pants. Pushing pants and boxers off in one, a hand came to palm at the erection he freed from its entrapment. Hux, who was still obviously staring, was honestly impressed. He was hung, which made sense considering the rest of him was huge too, but holy crap. 

 

Matt gave a light chuckle, stepping out of his jeans and adding them to the pile on the floor, “Strip yourself and hand me the lube, I can work myself open.” 

 

Apparently he was fine with bottoming, which was perfect for Hux. He stood up from the bed, placing the lube and condom on the bed, reaching to remove his shirt when suddenly the room got dark. “The hell?” he mumbled, pulling the shirt over his head to look in the direction of Matt.

 

“Hope this is fine,” Hux heard, his eyes adjusting to the darkness as he saw Matt crawling back on the bed. “I prefer it this way.” Hux saw the man grabbing for the bottle of lube, drizzling some over his fingers, coating them before placing the bottle on the counter, reaching behind himself as he supported himself on an elbow and his knees to work himself open.

 

“Definitely unusual, but I won’t complain.” Hux replied, Matt was definitely an odd one. But, considering the man was doing all the work for him, it wasn’t so bad. He could hear Matt making little groans on the bed, Hux working on taking off his pants and socks.

 

Hux palmed at himself as he got back on the bed, seeing Matt rocking his hips lightly, already having two fingers in himself. Hux raised an eyebrow at that, but grabbed the lube off the counter and moved to be behind Matt. He reached a hand to stop Matt’s wrist that was still working, pulling him free. “You look lovely like this.” Hux whispered as he put some lube onto his own fingers, not even letting it warm before he entered two into Matt’s ass.

 

Matt let out a soft groan, pushing himself back onto Hux’s fingers. He smirked at that, enjoying the other man’s groans and whimpers as Hux scissored his fingers inside him. Pushing the fingers in, be brushed the man’s prostate, making him moan loudly. That was enough for Hux, who pulled his fingers out, hearing the man whimper at the loss. Tearing the almost forgotten condom wrapper open with his teeth, he rolled it on over his own erection. Using the leftover lube from his fingers, he slicked himself up and aligned himself and started to push in.

 

They both groaned as the head of his dick breached Matt’s ass, Hux having to pause his movements. It had been an unfortunately long time since he’d done this, his body wanting nothing more than to thrust wildly into the man below him. But he wanted to last at least a little bit, pushing slowly a few more inches in. He could hear Matt moaning, moving his arm to his face to try and stiffle the noises he was making. He rested on his elbows, presenting his ass in the air for Hux to do as he pleased with it. Hux’s hands dug into Matt’s hips, starting to push himself to hilt. He moaned when he did just that, pulling some of him out before thrusting back in.

 

Matt made that odd growling noise again, biting at his arm now. Trying his best to stop making noises, but Hux could hear it. Was he just groaning weird, or was he actually growling? Hux wasn’t sure, he was frankly just happy to be doing this. He tried to get a rhythm going with his thrusts, his grip almost becoming bruising for Matt’s hips as he picked up speed. Hux glanced up, reaching a hand to grab hold of Matt’s hair, pushing him to the pillows in front of him. He heard the man almost snarl in response, pushing himself back onto Hux and meeting him with his thrusts.

 

Hux whimpered, feeling his orgasm building in the coil of his stomach. He had a tight grip on the man’s hair, noticing that his hair had an almost odd texture to it. He didn’t think much of it, honestly more distracted by the growls coming from Matt, which were being muffled by the pillow Hux was forcing his face into. His thrusts were becoming more erratic as he was approaching orgasm, seeing Matt’s hand reaching under him to palm at his own erection, which has been ignored by Hux since he started this. He was rubbing himself in rhythm with Hux’s thrusts, only taking a few strokes before Hux heard the man snarl loudly as he came. 

 

Hux followed almost immediately after as Matt clenched up on him, moaning himself as he thrusted wildly into the man. He rode through the orgasm, before pulling himself out and sitting back on the bed, panting. The entire thing took a long moment out of Hux, trying to catch his breath. He pulled off the condom, twisting it off before throwing it in the trash can near his bed. 

 

Matt had completely collapsed onto his bed, panting and laying on his side now. Hux was sure his come was smeared on the sheets, but right now he didn’t care. The man just looked beautiful at that moment, Hux crawling up to curl up with him. Matt seemed to be hiding his face still in the pillow, his glasses had fallen off probably when Hux started shoving his face into that same pillow. Hux smiled, hand reaching up to start scratching at Matt’s head lovingly.

 

Then Hux heard a low rumble coming from Matt.

 

It reminded him vaguely of Millicent’s purr.

 

“Are you purring?” Hux asked with a chuckle. 

 

The noise stopped immediately, Matt turning his face to look at Hux. “No.” he replied, sounding embarrassed. Hux still smirked at him before pausing, his face twisted in confusion.

 

He’d seen this face before.

 

Without the glasses, it was more obvious. The beauty marks, and the nose.

 

Hux noticed something else, on the man’s face, it almost looked like makeup had rubbed off, revealing a scar underneath on Matt’s right side.

 

A scar very similar to that of a certain security guard he knew.

  
_ Kylo Ren? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time writing anal. Hope everyone enjoys this so far, and hit me up on tumblr! Always looking for more people to talk to!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on the update. I already have chapter 5 mostly done, so hopefully it'll be posted in a week or two.

No, this couldn’t be.

He did not just fuck Kylo Ren.

Hux turned away, looking up at the ceiling above him. Taking a moment to think. 

Hux was imagining things. It must be a different scar, Matt must be hiding it because he’s embarrassed by it. Also, Matt very obviously had blonde hair. Their voices were different. And Kylo Ren didn’t seem the type to go to a bar, around other people. No, Hux was just imagining things.

But, their faces were almost identical. And, the scar. Granted, Hux only saw a glimpse, and it was dark in the room. Maybe he imagined it? Yeah, he must have imagined it.

Satisfied with that thought, Hux turned back to Matt on the bed. The other man had already buried his face back into the pillow. He was still breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. Hux ran a hand down the man’s back, trying to push away any concern he had regarding the man’s face. Honestly, Hux was just being crazy.

Hux felt himself growing drowsy, closing his eyes and listening to the sound of Matt’s breathing as he let the sleep take him. 

\---------

Hux woke up to gentle shifting on his bed. He didn’t open his eyes, but he could assume that Matt was making his way out. Hux shifted and rolled to lay on his back. He heard the rustling of fabric, peeking from the corner of his eye to see Matt grabbing his clothes off the ground. Instead of putting them on, he walked into Hux’s bathroom, closing the door behind him. Hux thought nothing of it, hearing the lights flick on. 

Hux jumped a little bit when he heard a thunk in the bathroom, twisting in the bed to look at the door. He heard Matt mumble something, Hux didn’t quite catch it. Hux examined the door for a second, wondering what was going on. It almost sounded like Matt punched the wall or something. But why?

_Well, maybe he saw that his make up got smudged._ Hux’s mind supplied.

Hux imagined that, he told himself. Shaking his head, he closed his eyes again, ignoring Matt’s presence as he tried to fall back asleep. Judging from the window, it was still late at night. Soon Matt would be gone and this would be nothing but a pleasant, somewhat strange, memory for him.

Matt wasn’t in the bathroom for much longer.Hux heard the lightswitch flick off just before the door was opened, Matt entering the bedroom. Hux decided to pretend to be asleep, as he didn’t want any departing conversations with the man, but he did listen intently as Matt walked through the bedroom to the closed door. Hux heard the man softly sigh to himself, before opening the door and exiting, leaving the door ajar.

Then Hux heard the hissing. Oh no, Millicent.

Hux started to sit up in bed, ready to grab Millicent to prevent his cat from biting his exiting house guest, but stopped when he heard a very loud growl coming from the living room. 

That wasn’t Millicent.

Hux then heard a responding growl from Millicent, and a hiss starting from her again, but was cut off by what sounded like a snarl. Hux was frozen in place, utterly confused, before hearing the quiet jingle of Millicent’s collar approaching his room. Millicent then jumped onto Hux’s bed quicker than he’d ever seen her move, her trotting to his side and curling up. Hux reached a hand out to stroke her, feeling her shiver against him. What on earth did Matt do?

Hux didn’t move until he heard the front door open and close. He exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Did Matt really just snarl at his cat, scaring her half to death? He looked down to Millicent, who seemed to be calming down after Matt had left the apartment. But this just made it weirder.

Hux tried his absolute best to ignore his thoughts, his mind trying to come up with explanations for what just happened. But really, what explanation could work for this? A man that he just fucked had attracted hatred from his cat for absolutely no reason, and he snarled at said cat before leaving. Did Hux just fuck an animal?

Hux shook his head, continuing to stroke Millicent’s fur. She was starting to calm down, relaxing against him and getting into a more comfortable position for more petting. Hux himself laid down with her on the bed, wanting to fall back asleep. Hux felt relief when he finally heard Millicent start to purr next to him; he sighed as he closed his eyes. He would try his best to pretend none of that just happened. He needed to fall back to sleep, and tried to think of nothing at all.

\--------------------------

“Phasma.” 

Phasma turned around in her chair to face Hux, who was standing in the walkway of her cubicle. She raised an eyebrow as she spoke. “Huh, didn’t think you knew where my work space was.”

Hux gave her an unimpressed look, choosing to ignore the comment. “Mind if we have lunch together? You can choose the restaurant.” Normally, Hux would never choose to talk to a coworker about his issues. Or whatever he could describe this as. But he needed to talk to someone, or risk his sanity.

Phasma smirked, an almost knowing look to her face. “Oh? Gonna tell me how Friday night went, huh? Well, I’m down. I’ll drive us.” She began to stand up, grabbing her purse and nudging him out of the doorway to leave.

Hux took a deep breath, following her. He wasn’t even sure of what exactly he was going to say. He was just going to sound flat-out crazy. 

Phasma had offered to drive them, which helped Hux start planning exactly what he was going to tell her in the quiet moment. He made a mental list, slowing his breathing, trying to accept what had occurred so he could articulate it to someone else. He had a plan set and ready as he and Phasma sat down at their table at a local burger joint, Phasma waiting until after the waitress took their orders to ask him what was up.

Hux took a deep breath, looked Phasma in the eyes, and said it.

“I think I had sex with Ren.”

That wasn't what Hux had wanted to say at all. But of course, he panicked. Phasma gave him a questionable look, before smiling and laughing softly. “You're not sure?” She asked with another laugh, taking a sip of her water. “When did this happen now?”

“Friday night, I went home with a guy named Matt but…” Hux paused, he knew this was sounding crazy part. “But, Phasma I think he was actually Ren. I-”

“Yeah, I saw you leave with Matt.” she interrupted. Hux looked at her quizically. “The blonde guy, right? He’s kind of a regular there, I’ve talked to him. He’s nice, but he's definitely not Kylo Ren, Hux.” She smiled at him, “What makes you think he's Ren?”

Hux paused, new information coming to light. Matt was there often? That kind of destroyed his theory that Ren put on a wig and glasses just to have sex with Hux. But still, his other evidence. “H-He, um,” he stammered, trying to draw his evidence back up, “okay well, he was a bit awkward, an otherwise nice partner and all, but-”

“So, was he good or what?” Phasma interrupted him again. “Do you think he was Ren because he was bad in bed or what?” Phasma asked in a mocking tone.

“No, it was actually a pretty good lay, but-”

“So what's the problem here, Hux?” Phasma asked, “I took you out to get your mind off of Ren, you know?”

“I know, I know.” Hux grumbled, becoming frustrated. “Look, Phasma, when we were doing things, he rubbed his face into the pillow and, he's wearing make up, okay?” Hux blurted out finally. “Like, on his face. I only caught a glimpse, but he's wearing concealer to cover up a scar. It was in the same place as Ren’s scar and…”

“That's it?” Phasma asked, “You're accusing a random guy you fucked as being a coworker because he's covering up a scar on his face? Are you even sure you saw it, you don't seem that sure.”

“My pillow had concealer smudged on it, I'm pretty sure I saw the same scar-”

“Lots of people have scars, Hux,” Phasma told him, sounding exasperated. “Ren seems comfortable with showing his off, but not everyone does. Maybe Matt’s more embarrassed by a scar, who knows. Either way, Hux. A scar on the face doesn't make two people the same. Matt talks to people, I've seen him be social. Ren isn't, only person he talks to is you. Why the hell would you try to relate the two?”

Hux had no response, other than to sit dumbfounded. Phasma’s words didn't ease his anxiety. He already had the same thoughts she was saying to him, he knew this was impossible. Even if his wig idea was true, Hux himself tugged on that hair, roughly too. It didn't come loose, it felt weird but otherwise it was real hair. Granted, Ren could be wearing the black wig, but his seemed really natural too. Nothing was making sense, but Hux just couldn't shake the feeling. 

Phasma noticed the silence, not breaking it until after their food arrived. She grabbed a fry from her plate, munching on it as she spoke. “Just relax, Hux. I mean, seriously. Just take it for the great lay it was and move on, don't try to add it to your already present Kylo obsession-”

“I'm not obsessed with Kylo Ren.” Hux spat out, face flushing.

“Coulda fooled me,” she snickered at him. “He seems to be the star of most of the conversations that we share,” Hux opened his mouth to protest, but stopped as he realized that was becoming true for him. Then he just felt angry. “I mean Hux, you talk about him to me more than you've ever spoken of your cat. And now you're trying to say he and another person are the same, just based on them having facial scars. Think about that, Hux.” She said nothing more, sitting back in her chair. Letting him be, she started to eat her burger. 

Hux had nothing else to say. Maybe she was right. Maybe he was obsessed with Kylo. Really, it was insane to think they were the same. Even if they looked the same…No, Hux mentally shook his head. He needed to get this idea out of his mind. He was going to see Ren later, and nothing had changed between them. Ren went home after his shift, did god knows what at home, and was returning to work on Monday. Hux went to the bar on Friday, had one of the better fucks he's had in a long time, stayed at home for the weekend and returned to work Monday. Nothing was new.

Then why did it feel so new?

\-----------------

Hux could barely face Ren. 

It was Thursday now, and Hux hadn't stayed after work at all to do any work. He was currently leaving for the day, nodding to Ren as he checked him off as leaving, and left. 

He still hadn't talked to Ren. He’d nod a greeting and a goodbye, but that was it. Ren still seemed sad, but made no further attempts to talk to him. Which almost made it all worse for Hux.

He hadn't talked to Phasma about this stalemate either. She'd ask if they were talking again yet, Hux would say no, and then they'd drop the conversation. Phasma, thankfully, knew not to ask any more questions about Ren after Monday. 

Hux got to his car, mentally switching to autopilot and began to drive home. He didn't know what to do, why he couldn't shake the stupid notion that Ren and Matt were the same person.

Sure, Matt was a strange person. He had a lot of odd quirks that Hux had picked up on during their short time together. But in no way did those quirks match Ren.

Hux had a mental repeat going on for the last few days, reimagining the noises that Matt had made as he opened himself up. Remembering just how good he felt when he entered the man, how he made those animalistic growls as he thrusted into him. The almost snarls as he hit the sweet spots for Matt, how he-

Hux shouldn't be thinking about those thing when he was sitting in a traffic jam.

He flushed, mad at himself for letting this happen again. Hux had been thinking about that encounter a lot in the last week. He wasn't sure if it was because he was trying to make relations to Matt and Ren being the same, or if he just really enjoyed the sex, but it was on constant repeat for him. 

Regardless of the reason, he mentally scolded himself for thinking about it in traffic, trying to refocus himself on more relaxing things, such as work.

Maybe not that. He tried again, coming up with thinking of a show he had been watching to distract himself.   
It seemed to work for the most part, as he made it home safely and walked himself up to his apartment. He unlocked his front door, dropping his bags as he entered and sighed. He did like the extra time at home he was giving himself, but he also didn't like falling behind schedule at work. 

Millicent came running up to him, bell jingling as she approached, and immediately began rubbing herself up against Hux’s leg. He smiled down at her, reaching down to pick her up and cradle her in his arms. She always helped him relax, he smiled at her as he rubbed her belly. 

Hux decided that he'd shower to help himself relax. It always helped in the past, after all.

He dropped Millicent on his walk to his bedroom, starting to remove his work outfit on his way. He dumped his clothes onto his bed, before entering the bathroom and turning on the shower to a soothing warm spray.

All was well with the shower, it helped relax his muscles and the tension he was feeling. That was, up til near the end. In rubbing the soap from his body he had let his mind wonder, reimagining last Friday again.

He couldn’t deny his memories this time, flushing as he felt blood rushing down south. He mentally groaned, looking down at himself. He had been denying himself this pleasure all week, the thoughts of Matt being Ren always putting him off from indulgence. 

Maybe this was what Hux needed, maybe a bit of indulgence to Matt's memory, to try and wipe the idea of Ren being involved? This planned seemed to work for Hux’s mind at the moment, Hux succumbing to want as he reached a hand to hold his half hard dick.

Hux stroked himself as he reimagined how large Matt had been, the perfect curve to his hardened flesh. The small groans Matt had made when Hux had touched him, how Matt whimpered with want as he used his own fingers to stretch himself open to take Hux. Hux bit back a groan, closing his eyes as he continued to pull on himself. Thankful the suds from the soap was making it easier.

How Matt had to use a pillow to stifle his groans as Hux entered him, how warm and pleasant Matt had felt under Hux. How he let Hux be as rough as he wanted to be, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it just as much as Hux did. God, what a great partner to even let him rough up his hair and yank on it. His gorgeous, oddly textured hair. 

Ren making those animalistic cries as Hux pulled on his dark brown hair, Hux hearing Ren’s whimpers escape his throat as finally he let himself grab his own hardened length, thrusting into his fist in time with Hux. How Ren practically howled when he came. How Ren-

Hux realized what he was doing just as he felt himself hit orgasm, biting his fist as he came over his hand. He looked down at the mess he had made, seeing it be washed away by the shower water. 

But that didn't make it any easier for Hux to realize what he did. He had masturbated to the thought of him fucking Ren. He didn't mean to, he was trying to avoid just this situation. But Hux couldn't deny that imagining Ren in that same compromising position that Matt had let himself be in was undeniably attractive.

Did he find Ren attractive?

Apparently so, Hux groaned to himself. He was obsessed, wasn't he? He hadn't thought of Ren like this before Matt, but he did always kind of like Ren’s odd mix of features. 

There were things that Hux couldn't explain about Ren that were unnerving, however. The cat thing, for one, he still had no answer. And then there was how Ren wouldn't talk to anyone past Hux, making him special somehow. Why? Hux wanted answers.

Hux sighed to himself, knowing that he was going to finally have to talk to Ren. It would end his apparent obsession, thus making him feel better, and may even finally get him some answers regarding the mysterious man. And, best of all, maybe he could disassociate Matt and Ren from each other, and start enjoying the memories instead of them causing anxiety.

Hux decided that tomorrow he was going to talk to Ren. Maybe even invite him over for drinks, make it a more comfortable setting and not at work and on the clock. Maybe Ren would be more willing to talk, and not just dodge the questions.

Hux could only hope.

\--------------

Hux felt ready for the conversation come quitting time on Friday. He sat at his desk, catching up on work from the last week that he wanted to have done on Tuesday. He was feeling pretty good about himself, having a plan of offering to make up for ignoring and avoiding Ren with an invitation to drink at his apartment. He could offer it in ways of friendship, definitely not in attempts to get in his pants or anything untoward, Hux reminded himself. He didn't feel anything for Ren, he just wanted answers and friendship.

Hux glanced at the time, seeing that it was thirty minutes past five. Most people would have left by now. Everyone was certainly gone by six. Ren usually did his first walk around then, so Hux would probably catch him then. He had all the words planned to say, just needed to wait for Ren to talk to.

Six o'clock came and passed. Hux was checking the time at six thirty, feeling confused. Ren always checked this floor at six. Hux felt a pang of worry, before he shook away those thoughts. Ren must just be a bit late, surely he'd show up eventually, right?

Hux only became more nervous when seven thirty rolled by. He was becoming completely unable to focus on his work. He knew Ren was here, he saw him at the front desk before quitting time. He patrolled the floors every hour, but had missed Hux’s floor on two patrols.

The horribly feeling that Ren was now avoiding him popped up. Why would Ren avoid him? Last conversation he had was that sticky note Ren gave him. Which was a friendly gesture, and Hux didn't deny it, so not like Ren could take it as a rude response, right?

Hux wasn't sure, but now he wasn't doing any work. He also felt hungry, normally Ren would show up with food by now. Hux made a face, thinking that. He was absentmindedly hoping Ren would gift him with food like usual. It wasn’t like they were really friends yet, he shouldn't assume that of him.

Hux stretched in his chair before standing up. Deciding he could visit the vending machine down in the breakroom, grab a snack and keep working was the best plan, he headed ut. Ren would have to patrol this floor eventually, right? 

Hux made the walk down the stairs to the floor with the breakroom, finding it eerily quiet when the room wasn't full of colleagues talking amongst themselves. The vending machines illuminated the room, at least giving Hux enough light to insert the cash and make his selection. The bag of chips fell to the bottom of the vending drawer with a mild thunk, where he bent down to reach under the compartment for the bag.

Just then, he heard the loud thunks of someone running down the stairs. It was unmistakable, Hux standing and turning to the doorway to look at the entrance of the stairs. Just as he looked, he saw Kylo Ren jumping down to the last step of the stairs, looking at Hux straight in the eyes, seemingly out of breath from running.

Hux gave him a puzzled, and somewhat startled, look. He tilted his head to the side, about to ask why he was running. Ren spoke first.

“Y-You never, leave your floor…” was all Ren spoke, like it was some explanation for why Ren just ran down the flight of stairs to the breakroom.

Hux held up the bag of chips as explanation, offering nothing else. “I do, in fact, have to eat sometimes.” Hux joked at Ren, trying to break the awkward air that was created by Ren’s quick entrance. “How'd you know I was on this floor?” Hux asked, though it was logical that Ren's first assumption was that Hux either went to the bathroom or went to find a snack.

Though Ren apparently did not assume so. “I heard you down here, or someone. Realized you weren't on your floor, wasn't sure if it was you or someone else…”

Ren heard him? Hardly believable, the only noise Hux had made was from the vending machines. Ren was definitely an strange person, this wasn't new. Whatever his actual reason, it wasn't important. He finally got Ren to appear.

Hux took a quiet breath, trying to remember his earlier script that he had planned to talk to Ren with. Speaking only after he saw Ren slow his breathing, he asked gently, “So, how have you been?”

Ren looked surprised by the question, stammering to respond. “I've been okay.” He replied, looking to Hux curiously. “You?”

“I've been better,” Hux replied. He had all the next lines on the tip of his tongue, ready to start the next line where he'd apologize for avoiding Ren and ask him to get some drinks.

He was cut off by Ren before he could even start. “Sorry about surprising you, I'll be on patrol, let me know when you're ready.” Ren said almost too fast, before turning and walking quickly out of the breakroom. Hux followed, confused, seeing Ren walk too fast down the hallway and making a turn. 

Was Ren running away from him?

\----

Hux didn't stay much longer. He felt off after the quick escape that Ren had made in the breakroom, and he didn't do much work when he returned to his desk. Granted, Hux still stayed until close to eight thirty. Ren still never patrolled his floor. 

Hux collected his papers, cleaning his desk for the weekend. He collected his briefcase, placing it under his arm and made his way to the elevator. The ride down was quiet, as it always was this late at night. When the doors opened, he walked the short distance to Ren’s desk, which was unoccupied at the moment. It didn't worry him, he always knew that Ren would be down there in a minute. He always somehow knew when Hux was ready to leave.

Hux paused that thought, thinking about earlier. How did Ren always know when Hux was ready to leave? Regardless of the time, if Ren was patrolling or not, he always managed to be at the front within the minute of Hux arriving from the elevator. Ren had mentioned hearing him earlier, heard his movement down to the next floor. Maybe Ren just heard the elevator going down?

That didn't make much sense, since it'd take more than a minute to travel down all the stairs to meet up with Hux. But Ren always appeared in a few seconds to a minute. Maybe he heard Hux cleaning his desk and preparing to go, and would start making his way down then? That would explain the timing better, but…there was no way Ren could hear Hux cleaning his desk from whatever floor Ren was currently on in his patrols. He'd have to have either finer hearing than a dog, or was checking the cameras. But that made less sense when he was on patrol.

Speaking of Ren, he had just arrived from the stairs. He didn't look out of breath, like before when he had rushed to the breakroom. So he definitely wasn't running to meet up with Hux. It was all so strange.

Or Hux was overthinking things.

That sounded more accurate.

“Get work done tonight?” Ren asked casually, going behind his desk to first check Hux off as leaving. 

“More than I have been,” Hux answered honestly. Staying after always meant more work got done, but tonight was far less productive than usual.

“Good, good.” Ren answered awkwardly, walking Hux to the front doors. As they approached, Hux began to hear the telltale sounds of rain. Great, Hux had forgot to bring his umbrella. He stared sadly out at the parking lot before him, seeing his car getting drenched in water. He heard a crackle of thunder, wincing at the storm. It certainly didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon.

Ren said nothing in response, just stood next to Hux, staring outside with him. Ren stepped away then, going to his desk and returning holding a jacket. He held it out to Hux without saying anything. Hux looking down to it, then up to Ren questionably.

“Be a pity for you to get that red hair of yours wet,” Ren smirked at him. Hux’s mouth opened to try and respond, shutting it as his face flushed. Ren only seemed to smile wider.

“You don't have to offer your jacket to me,” Hux tried to defend himself. But Ren seemed insistent, still holding the jacket out at arm's length. He was clearly not relenting, so Hux finally did, grabbing the jacket and let out a huff as he pulled it on. It was too big for him, considering it was Ren’s and he was a lot larger than him in terms of frame. “Thanks…”

“It’s no problem, really.” Ren replied, still obviously staring at Hux. The silence between them thickening, only noise in the room was the quiet patter of rain hitting the windows.

“Look, Ren…” Hux started, catching Ren’s attention. “I, wanted to. Apologize.”

Ren turned his head curiously at Hux, not unlike a dog. “For what?”

“I should have talked sooner, straightened things out.” It all just started falling out of Hux’s mouth, all the lines he had prepared. “I'm sorry I avoided you for so long, and tried to ignore you. I just, felt weird after the cat thing, and couldn't explain it so, I avoided you. I’m sorry, I should just just spoken to you, like a sensible person and-” 

Ren raised his hand to stop Hux, looking at him in the eyes. “Hux, it's fine. I'm sorry too, I should have explained things better to you. I’m sure that made you feel really weird, but I promise I didn't do anything weird like follow you home or something.” Ren seemed just as frantic in his apology, almost like he had prepared this too.

“How _did_ you know then, Ren?” Hux asked, since now Ren wasn't just saying Hux told him at one point. He was admitting he wasn't told, right?

Ren seemed to flush, looking away in response. “I, um. I don't feel ready to tell you exactly how yet…” Hux made a face, man claimed he wasn't following him home but then wouldn't give out how he knew? That was fishy. “I will, though. I feel like I could trust you.”

Could trust, huh? Hux wanted to know, he was curious. “Maybe, we could.” He paused, taking the plunge. “Talk more about this at my apartment tonight?” Hux asked, seeing Ren perk up and flush. “We could get some drinks together and enjoy a Friday. Relax and catch up?”

Ren looked like he was fighting with himself on this. He looked like he wanted to say no, and kick Hux out. But also that he wanted to leave with him right now. It was a few more seconds before Ren finally answered. “I don't dri- er, I guess I could. I don't have plans so…”

Hux perked up at the not drinking comment, remembering that another certain person also refused drinks. But Hux shook that thought from his mind, just because two individuals choose not to indulge like that, didn't make them the same. Regardless, Ren had agreed. “Great, give me your phone and I can give you my number and you can text me later for the address.” 

Ren seemed hesitant, before pulling his phone out of his pocket and giving it to Hux. Hux was surprised. It was an older flip phone, probably one that Ren got from a prepaid plan program. Hux, granted, didn't know how much Ren made as a security guard, but surely he made enough to have something better than a flip phone? 

Regardless, Hux gave him his number and saved the contact. Satisfied, he handed the phone back to Ren, who took it and pocketed it again. Something on Ren's face was off, like he felt he was doing something wrong. Hux wasn't sure why, but he didn't comment. “Sorry again, but thank you for the jacket, you can pick it up later at my apartment.”

Ren nodded in response, opening the front door for Hux to depart. Hux threw the hood over his hair, walking briskly to his car and fiddling with the keys for only a second before letting himself in. He sighed, turning to the front doors and seeing Ren still watching.

He felt a lot better about it now. Hr knew whatever happened later, at least it would make things less awkward for them both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet ya'll thought the reveal was this chapter. Nope! Everything goes horribly wrong soon, don't worry.
> 
> As always, thank you Vmp for making this pile of garbage readable.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, the moment everyone's been waiting for. 
> 
> There will be violence in this chapter. And mentions of blood.

Hux arrived to his apartment a little after nine, sighing and dropping his stuff as he made it inside. He turned and locked the door behind him, then turned back to look at his apartment. It only needed a little sprucing up before Ren arrived, honestly he was more worried about changing into dry clothing. He was thankful of Ren’s jacket however, removing it and resting the heavy fabric on the hook behind the door to dry. Hux turned when he heard Millicent prancing up, meowing a greeting to him.

“Hey Millie,” he greeted to her back, leaning down to scoop her up into his arms as he tended to when she came to him so cutely. 

Though, this time her reaction was different. Instead of rubbing against him purring, he heard her start growling. 

“Millie?” Hux asked, holding her at arm's length away from his chest as she extended her claws and made a swipe at him. He dropped her before she could succeed, seeing her land gently on her feet. But she looked up at him, tail poofing up and whipping back and forth behind her, still growling. 

“Millie, what’s wrong?” He asked, holding a hand down for her to sniff.

She wasn't having it apparently, as she jumped away from him and spat at his hand. Hux looked dumbfounded, not sure what her problem was as he watched her walk away from him, tail fur still on end and twitching angrily. He had never seen her do this before. Well, except to one person.

She didn’t like Matt.

But he wasn’t Matt, hadn’t been near him today.

Hux didn’t want to deal with this now, he had to get ready for Ren. He stood up, walking past Millicent who hissed at him again, to his bathroom. He figured a quick shower would be okay before Ren showed up. It’d certainly calm him down as well.

Hux did just that, and was towel drying his hair as he stepped out of the bathroom. He still had time before Ren would text him, knowing he got off work at ten. He took his time changing into more presentable off-work clothing, a clean t-shirt and jeans, and began to clean his living room of what little clutter had befallen it.

As he worked on organizing the papers he had on his coffee table, Millicent jumped up and meowed at him a greeting. “Oh, _now_ you want to be my friend?” He asked her, reaching a hand to her and petting her gently. Apparently she had gotten over whatever mood that was before. That was good, he needed her to be behaving herself when Ren came by. 

He took a second to pet Millicent, before he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it from his pocket, seeing a new number had texted him. It was about six minutes after ten, so it had to be Ren. All the text said was ‘Address?’

Hux quickly sent over his address, knowing he only had about fifteen minutes or so before Ren arrived. 

Or so he thought, until his phone vibrated again. ‘Be there in forty minutes,’ 

Hux shrugged it off, figuring Ren probably wanted to go home and freshen up himself. No matter, he simply had more time to prepare.

Hux fixed the final touches of his living room, even cleaning the bedroom. Just in case, Hux told himself, Ren might need to go through it to the bathroom. When everything seemed to be order, Hux went to the window in his living room. It looked like the rain had let up for the most part, and he figured his apartment had to be a bit stuffy. Millicent knew better than jump out the window, so he opened it enough to let the fresh, if humid, air fill his apartment. 

Reaching up into a stretch, Hux wasn’t sure how to occupy himself with extra time on his hands. He figured he should make sure his hair still looked in order, so he returned to his bathroom.

As he studied himself in the mirror, doubt crept in. Was this all a mistake? Should he really be inviting a man, who somehow knew information about him, over to his house for drinks? Hux wasn’t sure what he was thinking if he was being honest, he hasn't felt sane really for the last couple of weeks. Ren was doing this to him, so why did he want to make amends with the man? 

Hux was pulled from his thoughts with the sound of Millicent hissing again. What on earth could she be hissing at this time? His cat was going as insane as he was becoming, he thought as he shook his head and left the bathroom. 

He stopped only when he heard a much louder hiss from his living room. He felt his heart pound in his chest, stopping in his tracks. That wasn't Millicent.

That didn't sound like Matt either.

He heard Millicent’s bell jingling as she ran into the bedroom, hiding under Hux’s bed. Faint growling was still sounding from her, but she was otherwise hidden. And scared. As was Hux, now.

There was someone in his apartment? But how?

Or, maybe he was imagining things again. Maybe Millicent got spooked by a bird. Millicent was going insane like him, right, so this shouldn't be that weird. Everything was fine.

At least he attempted to convince himself, until he heard his living room window click shut.

Someone was here. But who? And, how? Did someone break down his door? No, he would have heard it. But then how? He was on the fifth floor of his apartment, there was no way someone had climbed up.

Hux couldn't take it any longer, leaning forward in the doorway, trying to stay hidden. He peeked as carefully as he could into the room.

What he saw surprised him. He saw a girl, wearing dirty rags of clothing and barefoot, standing in front of his window and looking around his apartment. She turned her head to look at Hux’s front door, Ren’s jacket still hanging from the hook. The girl had an odd hair style, pulled back into three buns lined up on the back of her head. 

He certainly hadn't expected to see a girl in his apartment. She looked soaking wet, water dripping and getting his apartment carpet wet. He made a face, about to approach her.

Shocked, Hux stopped cold when he saw her shake herself dry, exactly like a dog would. Oh lord.

It went everywhere, Hux speechless. He had never seen a person do that before. What even was this? Who was this strange girl standing in his apartment, shaking herself dry like an animal and hissing at his cat? How did she get here? Was she homeless? Attempting burglary? There were too many variables to begin trying to figure out the situation. 

Hux looked around to see if he had anything within reach in his bedroom, spotting an umbrella leaning against the wall by his closet. It would have to do as a possible weapon. He grabbed it quietly, holding it steady in a hand and stepped into the doorway and exposing himself to his intruder. 

“Who are you?” He asked in a stern voice, hoping his anxious fear wasn’t obvious.

The girl was touching Ren’s jacket gingerly, but dropped the sleeve as she turned to see Hux. She looked curious at first, but no fear at all was present in her expression. She cocked her head at him curiously. 

“Who are you?” She asked in a gentle voice.

Hux stammered. “ _Who am I?_ You broke into my apartment!” He accused her, still not leaving the doorway, not wanting to expose his improvised weapon. “Who the hell are you, why are you in my apartment and how did you even get here?”

She looked at him, studying. She started to walk towards Hux, he stiffened in response. “I came in through the window.” She explained, but didn’t answer the other questions.

She was getting too close, Hux held up the umbrella in what he hoped looked like a threatening stance. She stopped in her tracks. “The window? I'm on the fifth floor, how the hell did you do that?”

“I climbed.” She answered. “Put the umbrella down, I won't hurt you unless you try something first.” Her tone took on a vaguely threatening edge.

“Hell no,” he spat, “I need you to leave or I’m calling the cops.” She didn’t move. “I'm not asking again, who are you, and why are you here?”

The girl had the gall to roll her eyes, approaching Hux again. “I’m Rey, I’m looking for Ben. Put the umbrella down or else.”

Hux wasn't about to be bested by a ratty looking girl, and he wasn't backing down. Acting fast, he lifted the umbrella to strike her when she got close enough, but she moved quicker than expected. In a flash, he saw her duck down under the strike, before feeling the full force of her body slamming against his legs. There was no hope for Hux to keep balance, falling flat onto his back and groaning loudly. He tried to struggle to sit up, but felt her crawling on top of him and pinning his arms over his head. The girl’s strength was surprising, considering her small frame. Hux gasped to try speaking, to yell and curse her, but she slammed her free hand over his mouth.

“I'm just here for Ben, the jacket on the door smells of him. And…” she paused, visibly sniffing the air. Hux made a face, but couldn't voice anything in response. She looked back to him before speaking, “and, this room smells of him.” She looked at Hux questionably, who looked back at her with the same confusion. She smelled someone named Ben in his room? Smelled? What was this girl on? She must be some homeless junkie.

She leaned closer to Hux, obviously sniffing him. Hux squirmed under her hold, very uncomfortable with this now, if he hadn’t been so before. What was going _on?_

“Are you Ben’s mate or something?” She asked, nose close to his ear.

Mate? Hux needed this insane girl off of him and out of his apartment. Immediately. He struggled, trying to squirm out from under her, but no luck. 

Rey, as she called herself, looked like she was about to speak again before pausing, turning her head to the front door. She tilted her head curiously, a position she seemed to assume frequently, before looking back to Hux. “Sounds like someone's at your door.” she started, “you’re going to stay here, or I'll actually hurt you next time. Okay?” She let go of his mouth.

“W-What the fuck do you even want?” He shouted, now panicking. “Get off of me, get out of my apartment before I call the cops!” He realized that Ren was probably arriving about now. Ren could save him, oh god, or at least call the police for him. He tried to be loud. _“Someone hel-”_

She covered his mouth promptly, rolling her eyes. “I didn't want to hurt you, you know. But, you're being difficult…” Rey held up her hand as if to strike him, Hux wincing back in anticipation.

Then they heard loud knocking on his door. He sighed with relief, thankful someone was here for him. _“Let me in.”_ Hux heard Ren shout from the front door, before more pounding followed. “Rey, you fucking open this door.” Ren shouted, more quietly this time.

Hux froze in his relief. Wait.

Ren knew Rey?

Hux had so many questions, but none were apparently getting answered. Rey smiled, turning to the front door. “One second, Ben,” Rey responded back in a sing-song, only hearing Ren pounding on the door louder in response. She then turned to Hux. “Your mate’s here now, so don't do anything stupid and everything will be fine. I'm going to let you go, you stay here while I deal with him.” She explained, before roughly shoving off of Hux and running to the front door before Hux could even respond.

What was even going on?

Hux scrambled to his feet, looking out to the living room just as he saw Rey start undoing the top lock and speaking through the door. “Ben, I'm going to unlock this, and I expect us to talk like responsible adults, okay?” she asked, sounding a lot less mocking than she was a second ago. 

Then it hit Hux.

Rey was calling Ren, Ben.

The jacket smelled like Ben, and Hux’s bedroom smelled like Ben.

Hux barely had time to even process those facts before he heard Ren speaking through the door again. 

“Okay, Rey.” He replied, sounding a lot calmer than he was a second ago.

Hux started walking into the living room again just as Rey opened the front door. He saw Rey look behind herself at Hux for a second, then jumping away from the opening door. She barely avoided a punch that was headed straight for her face. 

Rey jumped backwards, crouching down as if ready to fight as Ren joined them in the apartment. He was looking angrier than Hux had ever seen him. Ren’s face was expressive, but even then the man seemed to avoid showing any emotion if he could help it.

Not now though, now he just looked pissed.

Ren was staring Rey down, baring his teeth at her in an animalistic fashion. Hux even heard what sounded like a growl to start coming from his throat.

Then suddenly Ren looked up, making eye contact with Hux.

Hux stared back at him, very confused and rather scared at this point. His mind was trying to catch up with him, but it was failing, too much new information kept pouring in.

“Hux…” Ren mumbled quietly to him, before his eyes darted back to Rey. She was still staring him down, ready to react if he tried anything again. 

“Rey, can we take this somewhere else?” Ren asked, back to his calm voice that he usually used at work.

Rey shook her head, “You and I both know you’ll run the second we’re outside, no can do.” She smiled at him. “Ben, let's talk about this-”

“Not in front of him,” Ren cut her off, a look of anger sweeping across his face again. Teeth again being bared. “Also, stop calling me that.” He actually growled his demand. 

“It’s your name, accept it.” Rey growled back. “He’s your mate, right?” Rey asked, smirking when she saw Ren start flushing, about to protest. “The bedroom smells of you, don’t deny that one either-”

“We’re not mates!” Ren growled, his face was flushing deeply. He darted a look to Hux again, studying his face before turning to Rey. “Please, Rey… He doesn’t know, this isn’t how I want him to find out.”

“I don’t know what?” Hux finally spoke up, crossing his arms over his chest as he spoke. “Ren, what the hell is going on here? Who is this?”

“I’m his cousin,” Rey replied, not turning to look at Hux, apparently not trusting to turn her back to Ren. Smart choice. “I’m here to take him back home. Ren, please,” she pleaded, “Leia, she-”

“Enough,” Ren started growling again in the ensuing silence, rumbling from his throat.

Just like Matt did.

Hux’s mind finally caught up, processing everything and snapping the pieces together in rapid succession. Ren was growling, acting like an animal like…Matt did. And, apparently Rey thinks they’re mates. Like animal mates? His bedroom smelled of Ren. Because Hux had sex with Ren in there, because Ren was Matt.

Hux wasn’t crazy! He _knew_ it.

“Y-You were Matt!” Hux accused, pointing a finger at Ren. “I knew it!”

“Hux, I-” Ren choked, his face turning beet red. “C-Can we talk about this later?”

“No. What’s going on Ren? Why is she even in my home!”

“Ugh, I already told you.” Rey complained, turning to Hux finally. She looked frustrated. “I’m here to take this sorry pissbaby home with his tail between his legs-”

Ren took the opportunity when it presented itself, lunging his full weight towards Rey and grabbing her around her shoulders and waist. Rey let out a very animalistic growl, turning around in his arms and using her legs to try and kick him off. Ren started growling again in response, trying to get a better grip on her. 

Rey hissed at Ren, her hand grabbing at Ren’s waist and starting to dig her nails into his side. Ren howled with pain, loosening his grip enough for Rey to knee his stomach. Ren seemed to snarl louder in response, both struggling on the ground of Hux’s apartment. He stared in complete disbelief as the fight unfolded in front of him. Hux was about to shout for them to stop, when Rey reached a hand up to Ren’s neck. Something about that made Ren let go, jumping up and away from Rey, the back of his legs meeting with a side table, knocking a lamp over.

Ren didn’t even react to the lamp, he just stood away from Rey, who was getting up to all fours, looking up to Ren. Ren had a hand across his stomach, holding the spot where Rey dug her nails into him. Rey looked startled, but not out of breath after the tussle on the floor.

In fact she was laughing. Hux could see a wide grin on her face as she looked at Ren, who was still growling lowly. “Well, if he didn’t know before, you better start explaining now.”

Hux wasn’t sure what she meant, looking to Ren. He was puzzled, eyes sweeping over his form, before realizing something was very off.

Ren had…cat ears.

Hux felt his mouth drop open. On the top of Ren’s head, there was a pair of ears. They weren’t quite pointed like Millicent’s ears were, they were more rounded. But cat was the best Hux could think to call them. As if aware of his thoughts, they moved, twitching to attention at Rey’s comment. 

Hux looked to Ren’s face, which was shifting to one of complete horror. And so very red. Movement caught Hux’s eyes behind Ren’s legs, glancing down.

He had a fucking _tail._

“You have got to be shitting me.” Hux said, in complete disbelief. Somehow, the tail was the tipping point to put Hux back to what he believed was the brink of insanity once again.

Ren seemed to be rendered completely speechless, opening his mouth before closing it. Rey only laughed more in response. “Oh Ben,” she chuckled, “Of course your lack of control exposed you.”

“H-Hux, I can explain!” Ren sputtered out finally, his ears flattening backwards. He turned towards Rey. “Fuck you, Rey. This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for you!”

Hux had enough.   
“What the fuck is going on!” Hux’s voice cracked as he asked, backing away from the two, back towards his bedroom. “Y-You have fucking cat ears!” Hux pointed a finger at Ren’s head, who lowered it as if scolded. 

Ren reached a hand to his head, covering the ears. A few seconds later, he removed his hands and they were gone. Hux glanced down to see that his tail was also gone. “Hux, this isn’t how I wanted you to find out, I-”

“Now they’re _gone?_ ” Hux shouted, he felt his head spinning. This was too much, way too much. “What the hell a-are you!”

“He’s a shapeshifter.” Rey answered, standing to her feet. “Ben.” She said to Ren, who turned to growl at her, angry again.

“I wanted to fucking tell him,” Ren hissed at her. 

“Ben, please.” She pleaded with him again. “I don’t want to fight, I just want you to come home with me. How can you expect me to think you’re not going to keep exposing yourself like this? We can’t afford this.”

“He’s the first one, Rey.” Ren growled. “And it wouldn’t have happened if you-”

“You exposed yourself.” She tsked, “You have no control, still. After all this time.”

Ren seemed to ignore her entirely. “Rey, leave.” He commanded, pointing to the window. “Hux doesn’t need to see this, and nothing you say will change my mind on coming home.”

“Ben…” Rey said softly, expression growing more sincere. “We forgive you, you know?”

Hux saw Ren’s face shift to shock, before going back to anger. “Don’t talk about that here-”

“Please, Ben-” Rey began.

Ren snarled. “Stop calling me Ben!” Ren shouted as he pounced onto Rey again, knocking her to the ground, climbing on top of her and holding her down. He was growling like an animal once more. Hux supposed it was appropriate. He could only think in simple concepts, overwhelmed as he was. 

“Rey, I’m never going back! Get over it, no one wants me there anyway! I’m happy here, I’m getting better at control and…” Ren drifted off, looking up to Hux once again. Meeting eyes, they maintained a stare for a few good seconds. Hux felt his face flush, completely confused. Still...

Rey didn’t seem to waste time, using her back legs and shoving Ren off of her. Ren stumbled back to his knees, before Rey tackled him to his own back and hitting the coffee table, both snarling and growling at each other. The contents on the table fell through to the floor as the glass on the table shattered. Hux took a hurried step back when they almost hit his own legs in their wrestling, both trying to maintain power over the other.

Then Hux noticed it.

Ren was changing again?

Hux stared in awe as the black rounded feline ears appeared on the top of his head again between one blink and the next, a tail falling over his pants, whipping angrily and fluffing up just like Millicent’s would when she felt threatened. 

Ren had flipped them again for him to be on top, bringing a hand down in a slashing motion towards Rey’s face, but she caught it in her own hand. Ren had his fingers extended, instead of clenched like he planned on punching her. Hux noticed then, Ren had planned on scratching her with claws. His fingernails were altered now, colored black and sharpened. Hux knew for a fact those weren’t there a minute ago.

Rey glanced up at Ren, looking at his clawed hand as he pulled it away from her grasp. She smirked. “Well, since he knows now…” She smiled sweetly at Ren before shoving him off again. 

Before Ren could react, Rey was bringing her own hand to his shoulder in a swiping motion. Ren didn’t dodge it this time, howling in pain as her own altered claws dug into his shirt and skin, tearing holes as she dragged them down. She pulled off, leaving him with four bleeding slashes across his shoulder blade and chest. 

Hux noticed then that Rey was changing as well. Her normally human ears had altered, a pair of rather large and ovalish feline ears had replaced them. The ears were black with white stripes on the back of them. She also apparently gained a tail, Hux noticed, a shorter tail than he expected a cat to have. It was a sandy yellow color with black stripes lining down it. Hux noticed that even her feet had claws now, toes colored a sandy brown and black spots with what looked like fur.

“Just like old times, huh Ben?” She asked in a mocking tone. “Now, maybe we should stop this stupid game before I give you another scar, maybe a matching one on your left side, hmm?”

Ren hissed, hand coming up to try and slash at her face again. Rey skillfully dodged him, ducking around and slamming herself to his side. Hux could hear the sound of more fabric ripping as she dug both hands worth of claws into his sides, Ren snarling before leaning down and sinking his teeth into Rey’s shoulder.

Rey, this time, howled in pain, letting go of his waist and using her hands to shove at his head. When Rey finally pried herself free, her hand shot to her shoulder and gripped it, trembling slightly. She stared hard at Ben, who stood panting, his teeth having changed. His canines were significantly larger, dripping with Rey’s blood. Hux watch as his tongue quickly swiped out to catch the drops before they fell. Hux noticed that Ren’s hands had changed more, his hands and fingers covered in a short black fur. Blood was still clinging to his claws.

The two stared off for several more seconds, both breathing heavily.

Hux couldn’t look away. His mind was in complete shock, he could do nothing more but stare at the two at a distance. Having backed into the bedroom after the brawl had unfolded in front of him, he now wanted to say something. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, his mind couldn’t even process the word ‘shapeshifter’ right now, much less think of how to make these two stop fighting in his living room in the middle of the night. He couldn’t even take in the amount of damage the two had done. But he thought saying something might be important.

Ren spoke first before he could, finally breaking the silence. He stood up straight, no longer in an aggressive stance. His wounds had bled enough for his light purple shirt to be gaining red spots at the edges of the torn fabric. 

“Rey.”

“Ben.”

“I can’t come back.”

Rey snarled, about to start shouting at him. But he held up a hand to stop her, continuing. “Look, I’m not over what happened. You...said it yourself. I need to better control myself. I have to do that, before I go home.”

“Ben, we can help you there.” Rey said, starting to relax her own pose. Her oversized ears flattened to her head, looking at him pleadingly. “Leia, she needs you to come back. She misses you, we all miss you…”

“I can’t disappoint you all again.” He told her, his ears flattening as well. “I will come home, but…not now.”

“When, Ben. It’s been years.” She asked. 

“Give me another month.” He said, looking at Rey in the face. Walking up to approach her, he looked down at the shorter woman. “I won’t come back to stay, but...I’ll go back, I’ll talk to Leia. I’ll talk to everyone. But, give me more time. Please?”

Rey looked up at him, searching his eyes for something that Hux couldn’t quite place. “Okay,” she replied finally, “but, if you’re unable to control yourself still, you do understand why we don’t want you out by yourself, right? We can’t risk this. All of this.” She gestured to the destroyed room, then gestured to Hux, but didn’t seem as concerned about him as her words made it appear.

Ren followed her hands, looking at the mess they had made. He looked sad, before nodding. “If I’m not better, in a month. I’ll go back…to stay.”

She nodded back, before pulling the larger man into a hug. Hux saw Ren hug her back, patting her back. 

After a moment, she pulled away. “You have a month.” She repeated what he said to seal the deal, stepping away from him and walking back to the living room window, animal features disappearing as she walked. 

“And Ben.” Ren looked up to her as she opened the window, starting to crawl out. “We still love you.” She said, before dropping out the window, leaving in a similar fashion to how she appeared. 

Leaving Hux and Ren alone.

In Hux’s destroyed living room.

Ren was bleeding from several puncture sites on his skin, shirt essentially torn apart. Ren still sporting a pair of feline ears and a tail, which twitched to attention as Ren turned to Hux, forward and listening.

Hux said nothing, just stared at Ren.

Ren turned to address the room again, then looked down at his own bloodied fur covered hands and claws. Then back to Hux. Like a disciplined child, his ears flattened as he dropped to the ground, hugging his legs, with his back turned to Hux. Hux saw the feline tail wrap around his feet, curling around his person.

Hux’s brain came back online as things started to calm down for more than a moment. Ren, curled up on the ground. The room a mess. Shapeshifting. 

He had sex with Ren.

“Ren?” Hux said, starting to slowly approach Ren’s form, freezing in place as he saw Ren’s ears perk up, turning back to listen. “...Ren?” Hux called again, after he got no other response past the ears moving.

“I-I’m sorry.” Ren mumbled through his legs, chest quivering in a telltale sign of crying. His shaky voice was backing up the idea. “This...this isn’t how I wanted you to find out, this…”

Hux was quiet, approaching Ren further but still giving himself a few feet of distance. Hux didn’t know what else to say, just stayed quiet to see if Ren would talk more.

It took awhile, but Ren did finally speak again. But still, he didn’t remove himself from his tightly curled position on the ground. “I’m sorry about the mess. I’ll clean it up and leave, I won’t bother you again.”

“You better damn well help me clean this up,” Hux replied quickly, surprising even himself. “Jesus, this isn’t what I had in mind when I invited you over, Ren.”

Ren’s tail twitched, slowly uncurling itself from around his body as he raised his head and turned to Hux. He had some tears still streaking down his cheeks silently, he quickly tried to wipe with his arm. “I-I’m sorry-”

“You already apologized for this,” Hux replied back, words falling from him easily now. “Ren, what the hell just happened? You’re a shapeshifter? What does that mean? And, you have cat ears, and a tail. You just fought another shapeshifter, in my apartment. And, we...we...” Hux couldn’t even say it. Even now. 

“I…” Ren tried to mumble a response, but Hux cut him off. 

“This is completely unbelievable, this feels like a dream,” Hux said to himself. This...had to be a dream. Shapeshifting wasn’t real, he was dreaming. It made sense. “This is probably the weirdest dream I’ve ever had.”

Ren looked at Hux, thinking hard. Opening his mouth, before shaking his head. “As much as, I’d love to tell you this is all _just_ a dream, I think you’ll know it wasn’t when I don’t come back into work.”

That made Hux pause. “What do you mean by that?”

“Um,” Ren paused, sniffling and wiping his face again. “I have to move towns before Rey comes back. I’ve got a month to get as far away as I can from here, not to mention, you...”

“You’re leaving?” Hux asked, before processing the rest of the sentence, “What about me?”

“You...know now…” Ren replied, confused. “I didn’t think, you’d like to see me again…after all this…”

Hux stared at him, looking down at him, a curled up mess on the ground. “I…” Hux wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure how he felt. Too many questions were still flying around in his head.

Hux came to sit on the ground, crossing his legs. He looked at Ren, who stared back at him, waiting for Hux to talk.

“You were Matt.” Hux stated. He looked to Ren, as if asking for confirmation. Ren seemed to realize that’s what he was looking for, so he nodded. “Why?”

Ren looked down and away, ears flattening. “W-why what-?”

“Why did you disguise yourself to have sex with me?” Hux shouted out, seeing Ren flinch down at the volume. Hux didn’t care. “You...you disguised yourself just to get in my bed, why? I don’t understand!”

“I wasn’t disguised for you!” Ren snarled out, growling at Hux and baring his teeth, teeth that were still too sharp. Hux recoiled, looking at Ren with fear. He had seen what he did with those teeth, some red still splattered around his mouth.

Ren noticed the reaction, pulling back and flattening his ears again. “H-Hux, I’m sorry.” He apologized, tone going soft. He looked at the ground, curling his tail around his body again. But, he still spoke. “I...go there often, you know?” Ren asked, but continued without a reply. “I go there a lot, in different looks. Depends on how I feel, who I’m looking to...spend the night with.”

Ren went silent for a second, his face really flushed. Hux said nothing, so Ren continued to explain. “I didn’t realize you were at the bar. When you approached me, I should have told you I wasn’t interested. I should have left. I shouldn’t have…”

“ _Why_ did you?” Hux asked, taking in this new information. He had more questions, but it was best to deliver them one at a time.

Ren went silent, hiding his face into his knees now. It was so weird seeing a grown adult of Ren’s height and bulk, curled up and hiding his face. Not to mention the feline features the man still sported. Those were beyond the capacity of the word ‘weird’.

Ren spoke, but the words were muffled in his knees. “What?” Hux asked, hearing Ren speak again but it was once again muffled. “Oh my god, just say it, I can’t hear you-”

“I like you, okay?” Ren spat out, lifting his face to talk once more. It looked like he was about to cry again. “After I stupidly made a comment about your cat, I thought I had completely ruined any chance of you returning any interest in me. So when you approached me at the bar, I thought that was going to be my only chance with you. A one time deal, a glimpse at what I could have had if I hadn’t royally fucked up.” Ren actually sobbed with that, hiding his face again. “But I just fucked things up more...”

Hux was taken aback, looking at Ren with shock. He wasn’t sure what to say. This sounded like the truth, it all made sense. “How did you know about Millicent?”

Ren laughed sadly into his knees, moving his face so his words could be heard. “I smelled her on you, Hux.” Ren said. Hux made a face, confusion and some disgust rolling over him. Ren didn’t see it, but apparently he knew what he was thinking. “I’m a freak, if the cat tail and ears didn’t give that away.”

“You smelled my cat on me?” Hux asked to clarify. Memories of Rey’s comments came to mind. How she smelled Ren on Hux, on his jacket and in his room. “Are...whatever you are, do you things have superior senses of smell or something?”

Ren looked up, growling at Hux again. “Don’t call me a thing.” He hissed, before softening his expression at seeing Hux’s recoil. “Ugh, I’m sorry.” Ren said, hand going to his head and pulling at his hair. “I’m so fucking sorry, I…yes, okay. We do.” 

“She said you were a shapeshifter,” Hux asked, “what does that mean?”

Ren sighed, looking to the side. “I shouldn’t explain all of this to you. Just, don’t tell anyone about this, okay? I won’t be bothering you anymore anyway, I’m sorry about the sex. I’m sorry about all of this, I…”

“Ren.” Hux stopped him. “You can’t leave.”

“You don’t want to see me after all this, right?” Ren asked, uncurling as he spoke. “I’m a freak, I fucked you under the pretense that I was someone else. I destroyed your apartment and-”

“Ren, it’s okay, look.” Hux groaned. “Okay, I didn’t want to be honest about this but…” He looked away, flushing. “Maybe I was feeling something more for you too, okay? I invited you over to make amends, but also get to know you better. I felt you were Matt, but I wasn’t sure. But, now that I know…” He looked at Ren, maintaining eye contact. “I guess I’m okay with that.”

“You can’t be serious,” Ren uttered in disbelief. 

“Unfortunately for me, I am.” Hux grumbled in response. “I just have so many questions to ask. You can’t be serious about just, up and moving away right?”

Ren looked to Hux, still in shock at this. “I have to, I can’t go back home with Rey. I-”

“What was all that even about?” Hux asked. “That was your cousin? You’re both shapeshifters? I just…”

Ren sighed. “She’s more of an adopted cousin…” Ren answered. Hux looked to him, expecting more of an answer. “My uncle adopted her. So she’s not really related, but we grew up together.”

“Okay, so...these shapeshifters…” Hux asked again.

Ren groaned. “Hux, I can’t tell you. I can’t stay here, I can’t...”

“You said you would,” Hux said, “said you’d explain things to me. Please Ren, I need to know, or I may very well say I’ve gone completely mad.”

Ren chuckled at that. “Okay, fine. But, I still can’t stay here, I need to leave town and-”

“We’ll get to that part, just tell me what you are.”

Ren nodded, slowly unfolding himself from the floor. “Let’s move to the couch, this is going to be a long explanation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again special thanks to [@Vmprsm](http://vmprsm.tumblr.com/) for being my wonderful Beta.
> 
> Also check out my trash blog [here](http://tezzypants.tumblr.com/) Feel free to message/PM me cuz I'm always looking to make friends!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -blows dust off this fanfic-
> 
> So 10 months later I update this. I can explain!
> 
> What happened here is that I started full time school, and then honestly I got nervous about actually posting my little shapeshifter species publically. And then I wasn't too happy with how I was writing this fic. 
> 
> But I've been wanting to write it again, and thanks to an inquiry I got on Tumblr, I knocked out a new chapter. I'm going to go back and fix some small things in the previous chapters soon, but here's this one to enjoy. Thank you for your patience!

“We’re called ‘Human Nymphs’, or that’s at least what my uncle calls us.” Ren started, the two had moved to the kitchen table to continue their conversation. “We look mostly human so we normally live normal lives. Except my uncle doesn’t, he prefers to live in nature. But anyway, we can shapeshift into anything animal based. Like I can give myself animal features, as such,” Ren said, pointing to the ears, which he then covered with his hand, waiting a second before removing it and no longer having ears. The tail was also gone, Hux noticed as he leaned forward to look for it. Ren chuckled in response.

“I can...also turn into a full animal, but I’d rather not show you that right now.” Ren blushed, somehow embarrassed by that. “I can’t turn into anything I want, I have size limitations. But I can change my features into other people as well, as you saw with Matt…”

“Except your scar,” Hux pointed out, “Rey said she gave that to you?”

Ren nodded, looking sad. “I’ll explain that story later. But, yes. My skin is damaged there so I can’t shapeshift it away. Very annoying, but thankfully I’ve gotten good with makeup, when people aren’t shoving my face into a pillow anyway.”

Hux flushed red in response, opening his mouth to reply, but closed it. He had nothing to say about that, so he changed the subject. “So, you guys have a better sense of smell, what else?”

“Hearing,” Ren answered, “so if you can help it, don’t yell so loud at me.” Ren chuckled again as he said that. 

“No promises,” Hux replied. “What else?”

Ren shrugged. “What else do you want to know?”

Hux studied him, trying to think hard about it. Hux had had so many questions before, but nothing was coming to mind now. He just studied Ren, looking at all his facial features. He tried to think back to Matt, how he looked. Tried to mentally compare.

“Can you turn into Matt?” Hux asked. Seeing Ren’s surprised face, Hux explained. “I need to...see to believe, I guess,” Hux shrugged. Since he was still so surprised, it seemed like a fair request.

Ren shrugged back, “I can, but uh...I guess look away. Since it’s kind of weird.”

“I’m okay with seeing it,” Hux said, “and it’ll help me make the association.”

Ren’s face flushed and looked away from Hux. “O-Okay...” Ren said, turning to Hux. He studied his face, and Hux studied his face back.

The whole process only took a few seconds. The main thing that Hux noticed was Ren’s hair changing from black to blonde. Other then that, not really much changed. Maybe slightly different facial features, but that could have been just contoured by the glasses he had worn that night. Also the makeup. Otherwise, it was the same Matt he had spent that night with, just sporting Kylo’s scar.

Hux stared at him with wide eyes, just taking in the transformation. It seemed to make Ren uncomfortable with no response coming from Hux, so he just stared with scared pleading eyes. As if looking for a confirmation that things were okay.

“I...I’ll have you know that you’ve been making me think I was insane for the last week,” Hux huffed. “Why do you only change the hair for Matt? Wouldn’t it have been smart to at least get rid of the freckles or change your build?”

Matt, er, Ren seemed to pout in response to that. “I rather like how I normally look, thank you. I just use this to meet people at bars, so I don’t need to change much.” Kylo seemed to decide he was done being Matt, slowly shifting his hair to his normal color and length.

Hux examined Ren a bit more, looking him up and down. It was awhile before he managed to form another question. “You visit that bar a lot, in different forms?”

Ren seemed embarrassed now, looking off and seemingly becoming very interested in Hux’s kitchen. “I...yeah.” Ren answered quietly. There was a pause of silence between them before Ren continued. “I get lonely, the bar attracts a nice crowd. It’s something to do after work.”

“Apparently so,” Hux replied. He had questions still, thinking back to that night they spent together. Recalling small things from that night, Hux formed his next question, “So, what’s with you...shapeshifters and my cat?” Hux asked, keeping in mind not to call them ‘things’ again.

“Animals...don’t like us.” Ren answered. “Whether we’re humans or in full animal forms, they all react the same way to us. I think they sense something’s wrong with us, that we’re not really human. But not really animal either,” Ren shrugged. “Granted, your cat seems to especially hate me,” he huffed, amused, glancing towards the bedroom where he was sure Millicent was still hiding.

“She has always been particularly fierce when faced with bigger dogs and animals,” Hux smiled. “What else,” Hux hummed to himself. “Would you like anything to drink?” Hux asked as he got to his feet and walked briskly to his fridge, “I have wine.”

“I...don’t actually drink,” Ren replied. “We shapeshifters can’t drink, it...makes us sick.” Ren seemed to have more to say regarding the topic, but simplified the explanation.

Hux wanted to ask him to explain, but decided to drop the subject. “That’s unfortunate,” Hux replied as he pulled two cups out of the cabinet for them. He filled one with water and the other with wine before returning to the table. “Your cousin is adopted?”

“Our kind is rare,” Ren explained, “my uncle had found her when she was very young and adopted her. She was abandoned by her family, which isn’t exactly uncommon for our kind. We tend to try staying in something like packs, though I’m not fond of using that word for it…”

Ren’s species, these so called Human Nymphs, often lived in packs? So, more animal behavior. “Why do you growl and hiss?” Hux asked after recalling the fight earlier.

“It’s...something we do.” Ren seemed embarrassed and hesitant to answer again. “It’s part of the reason I’m so quiet...and why Rey doesn’t want me roaming free. I’m not the best at acting human. I don’t hide it well.”

“I mean,” Hux started. “You were strange before I knew, yes, but you didn’t come off as inhuman.”

“I can’t control my shapeshifting well,” Ren frowned. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have...accidently revealed it to you the way I did…” Ren sighed, bringing his hands to his face and leaning on the table. “Rey’s not wrong that I shouldn’t be out on my own, I probably should be among my own kind where I don’t have to hide. I’m not good at it anyway. But,” he groaned, “there’s no way I can go back with her.”

Hux chose not to reply, since he sensed that Ren’s explanation wasn’t complete. Ren seemed to know he needed to continue, so he did. “I did something bad before I left them,” he seemed to be getting emotional as he talked, trying to steady his voice. “I...years ago, I lived with my family and things were fine. Well, mostly. I had issues with my father, he’s not a shapeshifter. He’s human.”

“Wait, so your kind can have children with humans?” Hux asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Ren answered. “I don’t like it. We’re rare, when we...mate with humans, we’re watering down our species. My grandfather, he was a completely pure shapeshifter. I don’t think there’s any of those even around anymore. He had my mother and uncle with a partial shifter, but we think she was of strong blood. And then my mother had to go ahead and become mates with a human?” Ren complained. 

Hux again said nothing in response, but Ren seemed to pick up that Hux was confused. “Anyway,” he continued, “obviously, I don’t like my father. He doesn’t really understand the whole shapeshifting thing too well. He definitely didn’t know what to do with me growing up…” Ren made a groaning noise, scrubbing his face with his hands. “I got into an argument with him one night, and I let my anger go too far. I hurt him, badly. I went way too far, but Rey stopped me. Gave me the scar on my face. After that, I just left. I couldn’t handle being around them anymore, I needed to be by myself. But Rey has been trying to track me down to drag me back and I just, can’t go with her.”

Ren paused, just holding his hands to his face for awhile. Hux was tempted to reach out and touch his shoulder, but stopped that thought as Ren started to speak again. “I’m better than what I was back then. I can handle being around people, for the most part. I can hold a job and pretend to be like humans. I don’t see why they want me to come back, especially after what I did?”

“Is your father…?” Hux asked, unsure how to ask. Honestly having father issues was all too familiar for Hux, though granted he never tried to outright hurt his father, even in arguments. 

“He’s fine, I think. I’m pretty sure if I actually killed him, Rey would be trying to kill me instead of dragging me back. Han was sort of an adoptive father to her too.” Ren said that with a roll of the eyes.

“Well, Ren,” Hux started, collecting his thoughts. “Why...don’t you go back?” Ren glared at Hux immediately, “Hear me out. Did Rey not say they forgave you? If you haven’t seen your family since it happened, maybe things aren’t as bad as you remember them to be. Even if it’s just to visit, why not go see them?”

“Hux,” Ren growled, actually growled. Hux could see Ren’s fingers clutching the edge of the table. “If I go back, they won’t /let/ me leave. They feel I’m a danger, that I’m going to accidentally expose our species to the world. They stay in packs to keep us all under control. I can’t be independent with them, they keep tabs on everything.” Hux noticed Ren’s nails shifting black and sharpening as he spoke with obvious restrained anger. “There’s no way I could ever return.”

Hux glanced at the nails again, then up at Ren’s head. He could see the ears slowly shifting, covered in short black fur and rounding into feline ears as they slowly moved higher on Kylo’s head. It was something Hux didn’t think he could get used to, seeing the shapeshifting. It seemed so supernatural. 

It seemed that Ren noticed the staring, bringing his hands to cover his ears again. “Sorry,” he mumbled out, acting more sheepish than angry now.

“Don’t be,” Hux replied, having an impulsive thought. More of a desire, a want to touch those ears. Hux found himself nervous, but he decided to do it. He reached over to Ren’s head and gently pushed his hands away and slowly brushing his fingers against the tip of Ren’s cat ears. “You shift when you’re angry?” Hux asked it more as a statement than a question, but still sought confirmation.

“Or threatened. Or too excited.” Ren grumbled, seeming hesitant of Hux’s fingers. “It’s exactly why I don’t talk to people. The shapeshifting takes a lot of concentration to maintain and I guess I’m just too...emotional…”

“What animal are you turning into?” Hux asked, intrigued by the ears. His fingers touched just the tip of the fur covered ears, but the ears flicked out of Hux’s fingers.

“Black panther,” Kylo said, moving back into his seat and away from Hux. “And I’d appreciate it if you didn't pull on my ears. They're sensitive.”

“Like a leopard?” Hux asked, drawing his hand away. “I won't pull on them, I just want to touch. If that's okay?” Hux asked, giving a gentle smile.

Ren looked at Hux dubiously, as if debating on trusting him, before relenting and leaning closer to Hux and bowing his head. “More like a jaguar, but yes,” he answered.

Hux took his opportunity and reached out to place both hands gently on Ren’s ears. The fur there was as velvety soft as he assumed it would be, his fingers gingerly stroking around the shape of the ears as he examined them. Glancing down to Ren’s face to keep an eye on his expression, he still seemed hesitant but also seemed to be relaxing under Hux’s touch. So, he continued.

“How strange,” Hux mumbled absentmindedly as he moved his fingers to stroke at the base of the ears where they met the head. It wasn’t just some trick, they were very real and attached to Ren’s head. Just to confirm, Hux’s fingers lingered further to find where Ren’s human ears would be and found the area was covered with hair. Intrigued, he dragged his fingers along the scalp as he moved, scratching Kylo’s head.

That was when the purring started. Hux’s eyes darted down to Ren’s face to see him smiling with his eyes shut, adam’s apple moving slightly as the purr rumbled from his throat. Kylo was actually purring.

Hux wasn’t sure how to react, if he should stop, pretend it didn’t happen, continue, what? But he decided to keep going, scratching Ren’s scalp with his blunt fingernails. He saw Ren’s tail, reappeared, that fell over the waistband of his pants start to twitch to life, the tail tip flicking gently in pleasure. Ren’s black clawed fingers began to kneed at the kitchen table top, and Ren began to lean his head closer and closer to Hux, clearly begging for more pets. 

Before Hux knew it, Ren was practically falling out of his chair and trying to rest his head on Hux’s chest, purring louder and louder as Hux kept scratching at his head. He noticed that Ren’s ears were in fact sensitive, and he especially seemed to like scratches there. As long as he didn’t pull on the ears, he reminded himself. He kept one hand scratching at an ear and another learning the top of Ren’s head, examining the strangely textured hair Ren had.

This was all so strange, but Hux found himself unable to stop. He was too mesmerized by the subtle kneading of Ren’s fingers, which found themselves on Hux’s knees for support, the happy flicks of the end of Ren’s tail, the purring that was louder than anything he’d ever gotten Millicent to do, the subtle shifting that continued after, such as Ren’s nose turning more feline like and gaining whiskers, not to mention the short black fur that began to cover his finger tips and hands. This was all coming from Ren, a security guard at his work place whom happened to be some sort of extraordinary creature. It was astounding.

Eventually though, Hux knew it was time to stop. Mostly when Ren started to try licking at his shirt in apparent gratitude and his now cat like tongue started to stick to the fabric of the shirt. Hux slowly stopped his scratching and removed a hand from Kylo’s head, the other just petting Ren’s hair. Petting the hair finally allowed Hux to realize what was different with Ren’s hair, it was closer to the texture of fur. Not exactly, he didn’t feel like Millicent. But he was distinctly different than human hair. Just another odd thing about him, Hux assumed.

Hux kept an eye on Ren as he seemed to come back to himself. His eyes opened slowly, eyelids drooped heavily as if he was just waking up. Before Ren suddenly became alert, ears flicking forward and eyes opening wide. Ren pushed himself off of Hux’s lap, returning to his seat and staring at Hux with a mix of horror and embarrassment. His face covered in a flush as he started to mumble, “I-I um, I…”

Hux opened his mouth to try to interrupt Ren, but quickly realized he didn’t know what to say, so he promptly shut it. He just stared into Ren’s eyes who stared back, intense silence falling between them. As the silence grew, Hux noticed that Ren subtly started to shift fully human again, all feline features disappearing in the blink of an eye. 

“I’ll...just go then.” Ren said, hastily getting up once he had returned completely to his normal features, breaking eye contact with Hux. Ren was trying to walk away, but stopped when Hux grab his sleeve.

“Not until my living room is cleaned,” Hux reminded him, “and you’re covered in scratches and blood. You’re not leaving until you’re cleaned up.” 

Ren had his back turned to Hux, didn’t give any sort of indication he heard. Eventually after a few moments, he let out a huff before pulling his arm away from Hux. “Fine,” he grumbled, walking back into the living room. 

Hux followed soon after Ren with a dustpan to collect the broken glass. Cleaning glass out of his carpet wasn’t exactly how Hux had planned on spending his night, but at least Hux knew for a fact that he wasn’t crazy now. The purpose of learning more about Ren was also served, though it was far more than Hux ever assumed he’d learn of Ren. He still had so many questions left. He could only hope that he could still convince Ren to stay in town, but he knew it would take work.

Once the living room was as close to clean as they were going to get it for the night, Hux started pulling Ren to the bathroom to clean his scratches. “We should have done this immediately,” Hux grumbled as he yanked on Ren’s shirt again.

“It’s not a big deal,” Ren seemed to huff, but didn’t fight Hux off. “Seriously, I heal faster than you humans do.”

“Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t disinfect them,” Hux replied. “Unless you want more scars like the one on your face.”

“If I didn’t like it, I would cover it with makeup at work, right?” Ren seemed to smirk, showing off his crooked smile. “Plus, I deserve the face scar. I only cover it up in my other forms to prevent being recognized by people.”

“Right, right.” Hux rolled his eyes. “Either way, clean yourself up and I’ll get you a shirt to wear.” Hux instructed him as he pushed Ren towards the bathroom again before retreating to the bedroom. Exhaustion was catching up with Hux, it was getting close to one in the morning at this point. But he needed to make sure Ren was taken care of before he slept. So he quickly sorted through his spare clothes and tried to find something that would fit Ren.

When he returned to the bathroom, he found that Ren had shed the torn apart shirt he would wear at work and was instead shirtless, scrubbing a washcloth over his side where Rey had caught him. Hux couldn’t help but look at Ren’s toned body for a second, silently appreciating his form. Before, as Matt, Ren had turned off the lights so quickly that Hux never got time to truly look. But now, he could.

Black moles were scattered across his abdomen much like on his face, and Hux noticed the well-formed abs Ren in that moment. Besides the obvious scars littering his body, Kylo was utterly mouth watering and gorgeous. Hux’s eyes flickered to his thick arms, muscles that were normally covered by his long sleeve shirts were now out on open display. He had seen them on Matt, of course, it was what drew Hux to the man in the first place. But now seeing them on Ren was having a similar effect. Not to mention that Ren really was as thick as Hux always imagined him and--

“Hux?” Ren called Hux, getting him back into reality. Looking back up to Ren’s face, Hux flushed seeing a cocky grin on his lips. “Is that a shirt for me?”

Hux quickly tossed the shirt to Ren, who caught it before it hit him. Not wanting to talk about his staring, Hux left for bedroom again and sat down on the edge of the bed. He figured he should be sending Ren home by now, but he needed to talk to him about if he still planned on leaving town. Exhaustion was hitting him hard, however, he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep.

Ren soon left the bathroom, scratching at his head as he entered the room with Hux. Their eyes met again, Hux waited for Ren to say something first, but ended up speaking after a few moments. “Are you still going to just leave?” Hux asked in a quiet voice.

Ren looked away from Hux in thought, as if debating. “Not yet,” Ren answered. “I think I’ll start considering where I’m moving to first and get at least another week’s paycheck.”

“You don’t have to leave at all, Ren,” Hux tried to tell him, “I mean if she comes back, just tell her to leave without you.”

Ren laughed at that, going to sit down next to Hux on the bed. “Because that worked so well this time, right?”

Hux sighed in response, looking at his hands on his lap. “I can’t make you stay then,” he started, “and I don’t really know you all that well. But, I think I’d rather if you stayed.”

Ren was quiet for a bit, looking at his own hands instead of at Hux. The silence stretched for a long time, to the point that Hux’s eyes were drooping with sleep. Sleep was just about to take him as he felt the brush of Ren’s nose against his neck, stiffening as he felt the other man start nuzzling him. He wasn’t sure what to say, but Ren spoke first.

“I might stay,” he whispered gently to Hux’s ear. “Give me the week to consider though. But for now, I should get going home.” He sat away from Hux and stood up. “Maybe your cat will come out from under the bed after I leave…”

“Maybe you could stay the night,” Hux blurted out without really considering. His face was already red from Kylo’s nuzzling, but he felt it heat up further. Still, he continued, “Maybe not in here since Millicent is still hiding. But how about you stay on the couch?”

Ren stood still, before breaking a shy smile. “It is pretty late, huh? Okay, at least neither of us work tomorrow. Where is an extra pillow and blanket?” He asked as he started heading towards the living room again.

“Here, hold on.” Hux mumbled as he got up and went to his closet. Once he collected the items, he went back out to the living room to find Kylo already laying down on the couch. He dumped the items on top of him before taking one last glance around the room. “I do expect you to replace the items you destroyed.” 

“I will, I will,” Kylo grumbled as he pushed the pillow behind his head and worked on the blanket. Hux turned to leave the room but stopped when he heard Kylo talk. 

“Hey, Hux,” Ren started, only stopping when he saw Hux come back into the room. “Thanks.”

Hux looked at him curiously, “No problem, Kylo.” he replied, “Good night.”

“Night,” Ren returned back, Hux closing the door behind him. He quickly switched to some night clothes and crawled into bed. It took no more than a couple of minutes for Millicent to come out from under the bed, hesitantly crawling onto the bed and curling up close to Hux. Petting her head, Hux closed his eyes and vaguely hoped that morning would reveal this all to be some sort of strange dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise when the next chapter of this will be, but know I do intend to finish this fic. If you ever have any questions on my shapeshifters, please hit up my Tumblr! I'm always looking for new people to talk to!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this took forever. Hope y'all enjoy it though!

Nothing could quite compare to waking up on the morning of a day off. Not waking to the blare of an alarm was the best way to wake up, just easing awake at one’s own pace.

Hux slowly drifted into a conscious state, turning to look at his alarm clock despite its silence. It was 9am and far later than what he normally woke up on a day off. But he felt amazing, actually well rested for once. Millicent was still curled up sleeping on a pillow next to his own. A smile spread across his face, seeing her precious curled up form snoozing away so pleasantly. Hux wanted nothing more than to stay in bed and just sleep with her all day, but alas, real life was still a thing.

As he stood up from the bed he gave her a few quick pats on the head before he opened his bedroom door. Still not fully awake, his mind couldn’t recall why it was actually closed, since he never did that. As he approached the kitchen, he immediately noticed something off.

There was a giant sleeping panther on his couch.

Hux’s heart skipped a few beats, panic immediately setting in as he saw the beast sprawled out on its back on the couch, a quiet snore escaping its parted lips. His mind raced to questions of “Why was there a wild animal in his living room?” to “How did he escape it if it woke up?” before the memory of the events from last night caught up with him.

It was just Kylo Ren. As a giant black cat on his couch. Sleeping.

Hux shook his head as he approached the sleeping form of the big cat, getting a closer look. The size of the creature amazed him. It took up the entire length of the couch, and its paws were bigger than Hux’s face if he had to guess. Ren’s scar also identified the creature, the cat’s face matching the bisecting scar over his right eye. The tail fell over the side of the couch and was flicking gently in sleep. The quiet snore was almost cute, if the situation wasn’t so weird. This close, Hux could notice that the creature wasn’t just purely black but had a subtle pattern to the fur. It was a black on black fur pattern, with spots like a leopard or a jaguar, noticeable only this close. Also, almost humorously, the creature still wore Ren’s clothes. Not all of them, the pants had apparently come off in its sleep, but it wore a pair of boxer shorts and the shirt Hux had lent to Ren last night, stretched out around the beast’s broad torso. 

Hux wasn’t sure what to do exactly about this, though. Why did Ren even shapeshift into the animal form, if last night he expressed with embarrassment he didn’t want to? Would Ren even think the same in this form? Hux wasn’t sure. He looked down again and jumped back a bit when he noticed the snoring had stopped, and the creature was looking at him with the same dark brown eyes Ren stared at him with every day at work.

The big cat turned around on the couch, claws catching on the fabric before managing to lay comfortably on its belly. His belly, this is Kylo Ren. He looked at Hux, seemingly confused as he turned his head curiously. The creature, after a moment of silence, made a weird roaring meow noise at Hux. Hux tilted his head to match the cat on instinct.

“Um,” Hux started off, not sure what to say. “Morning.”

The panther looked at Hux, letting out another quiet noise like the last. Hux was going to assume it was a meow. 

“So, uh,” Hux started, maintaining the distance between them. “You’re...not going to hurt me like this, right? Are you still you in there?”

Ren made a face that didn’t seem quite right on the animal, his eyelids and ears lowering in something of an annoyed look. Hux was about to continue before the creature started to get up on all fours, making Hux a bit uncomfortable. But the beast jumped off the couch, turning towards Hux and starting to approach him with what looked to be hesitation. Ren stopped any time Hux seemed like he was visibly nervous, giving a moment before moving towards him again. Hux felt his back hit a wall, and Ren stood directly in front of him. 

He was massive, like this. The beast had more bulk to him than Hux ever expected, and it was just standing there in front of Hux. Staring at him. 

Then Ren lowered his head and headbutted Hux’s thigh. Hux was startled by the action, unsure what to say before the big cat started to purr against him.

It was so strange, this whole situation. But once again, Hux found himself reaching a hand to pet the giant cat gently on its head. That seemed to please the creature, who made another meow-roar before rubbing his face against Hux’s legs. It was sort of cute, maybe cuter if Ren’s claws didn’t look like they could cut through flesh as if it was paper.

After a few quiet moments of petting and purring, Hux spoke again. “Can you talk like this?” he asked, since Ren hadn’t said a word past roaring at him. Ren looked up in response, before obviously shaking his head in a ‘No’ answer. 

“But you think like you normally do like this?” Hux asked. Ren looked up at him again, before nodding his head in a ‘Yes’. 

“How strange is that,” Hux said with a soft laugh, petting Ren’s head again gently.

Ren got bored of the petting eventually, pulling away and walking towards the couch. He jumped back up onto the couch, taking up the entire space of it once more. Ren looked at Hux before resting his head on his paws, closing his eyes in something of a cat nap.

Hux stared at the beast in his living room again, for a moment unable to do much else. He still couldn’t believe this was Kylo Ren, but it was. The events of the night were still fresh in his mind and he wanted to ask Ren more questions, but the growl of his stomach demanded he eat something, and he heard a similar growling noise coming from the big cat on his couch. Who, when Hux turned to look at him again, was staring at him with big ‘puppy’ eyes.

“Hungry?” Hux smiled at the beast, who flicked his tail up in response. “I guess I’m going to make us some breakfast then.”

Somehow it felt like a normal Saturday morning then, standing in his kitchen and grabbing the supplies out of the fridge for some scrambled eggs and bacon. Everything seemed normal, and calm. The sound of the bacon sizzling in the pan, whisking the eggs in the bowl. Normal.

Until he heard Millicent’s growls coming from the living room. 

Memories surfaced of her hate towards Ren, which made Hux quickly return to the living room. He saw Ren, still in his panther form, being stared down by Millicent who was standing on the back of the couch. Her entire body was fluffed up in an attempt to make herself seem larger, and her tail was whipping angrily behind her. 

Ren seemed unaffected by her, just staring at her over his shoulder. He turned his head to her, before letting out a low roar-meow and rolling himself off the couch. Millicent followed however, she jumped after him and tried to take a swipe at his backside as he left. She made contact and Ren let out a whine before turning around to face her. She hissed at his face and he appeared to just stare back at her. They were at a stalemate, fighting over the couch. 

“Millicent, no,” Hux tried to interrupt, stepping towards them, but Ren turned to him, growling at him lowly as if to say ‘stop’. Hux listened, not moving any closer. Hux watched Ren turn back to the growling, angry Millicent, before silently backing away from her. She let out another hiss, but stayed on the couch. Whipping her tail still, she sat down but continued to glare at Ren.

Once Ren had backed away from the couch enough, he turned and trotted his way into Hux’s bedroom before shutting the door behind him. Hux was surprised, but the problem had solved itself so he turned back to his bacon and eggs.

It wasn’t long before Hux heard his bedroom door open and he soon found the large hulking form of human Kylo Ren standing behind him. He looked over Hux’s shoulder, studying the state of the meal that sat at the dining table. 

“Your cat is pretty vicious,” Ren spoke for the first time this morning, yawning into his hand and stretching. He still only wore the shirt and boxers from the night before.

“She is,” Hux replied, staring at Ren curiously. Once he completed the eggs, he grabbed some bread to toast. “So can you, um,” Hux started, unsure how to word it, “can you communicate to her, like that?”

“I don’t speak cat,” Ren answered with an amused smile, staring obviously at the eggs and bacon that Hux hadn’t made plates out of yet. “Just because I take their forms, doesn’t mean I know their language.”

“That makes sense,” Hux commented, unsure how to respond. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know Millicent’s thoughts anyway.   
“I do know some of their body language,” Ren added. “She thinks I’m here to take her territory, which is why I let her have the couch. If you had tried to remove her, she would have only been angrier.”

“Oh,” That made sense, he guessed. “why were you…?” Hux finally asked, since Ren could answer now.

“I, um.” Ren played with his hands awkwardly on the table. “I sleep-shift.”

“Sleep-shift?”

“I shapeshift, in my sleep,” Ren answered, confirming the obvious answer. “It’s rather embarrassing. Sometimes it’s just claws and the ears, sometimes it’s the whole thing like today. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s one reason I can never have a roommate.”

“Huh,” Hux replied, finally bringing over the plates of bacon and eggs and setting one in front of Ren. He quickly grabbed a fork, but seemed to wait patiently for Hux to take the first bite. 

“Sorry if that was a bit startling,” Ren commented. Hux took a bite of food, and Ren followed with a mouthful of eggs. “Maybe I should have warned you.”

“It’s quite alright,” Hux told him. It was startling, but not enough to truly scare Hux. “I just wasn’t sure if you were, you know, different like that.”

“It does change my thoughts,” Ren commented, making Hux look up, confused. “Not significantly, but I think more like an animal then, I guess. More interested in food and hunting, but nothing I can’t control.”

“Isn’t that disorienting?” Hux asked. He was completely unable to imagine such a thing. 

“It is, but something I’ve experienced since I started shifting in my teens. It’s just normal to me at this point,” Ren replied, chewing on bacon. 

Hux didn’t reply to that, again unsure what else to say. Ren seemed to not mind the silence either and so they finished their plates in peace. Hux noticed that the other man didn’t seem to bother with the toast on his plate until he ran out of eggs and bacon to eat, which when finished he proceeded to stare at Hux’s food that he picked lightly at. 

Hux had left a plate of both eggs and bacon, full and having added too much to his portion. Seeing as Kylo was staring so intensly at his food, much like Millicent would do from afar, Hux chuckled. “Did you want what’s left?”

“If you’re done,” Ren answered, seeming to act nonchalant about it. But as soon as the plate was pushed in front of him, he ate it as if he hadn’t eaten anything for weeks. 

“You really are hungry all the time, huh?” Hux mused, watching Ren finish what was left on the plate and lick his lips.

“To be fair,” Ren started, “Shifting uses a lot of energy and I haven’t eaten since work last night.”

“True,” Hux confirmed, “Do you need any more food?” Hux offered, though he wasn’t sure if he really felt like cooking anything else now.

“No, it’s fine,” Ren replied as he stood up. “I’m just going to grab something on my way home.”

Hux nodded, standing up with Ren as he took the dishes to the sink. Kylo had left to the living room and once Hux joined him again found him fully clothed once more. Before Hux could start with his goodbye, Ren started. “Look, I’m sorry about last night. And this morning, and everything really. I shouldn’t have done what I did with you as Matt. I’m really sorry about that, and the whole me and Rey destroying your living room. And-”

Hux cut him off before he could keep rambling. “It’s fine,” Hux said. “The Matt thing...we’ll come back to. I’m just happy you showed up when you did with Rey, even if my stuff got destroyed.”

Ren groaned at that. “Rey never would have shown up if she hadn’t smelled me all over you,” Ren replied, clearly still blaming himself. “If I had just backed off, she would have tracked me down instead of you. Your apartment wouldn’t have smelled like me and none of this would have-”

“Stop,” Hux interrupted. “No use in dwelling, let’s just relax and come back to this conversation later, okay?” Ren didn’t look too happy with that, his lips turned down in a frown. Hux wasn’t sure if he really should, but he stepped forward and held Ren’s cheek in his palm. “You have a safe drive home, I’ll see you on Monday.”

“I don’t drive, but thank you,” Ren couldn’t hide the small smile that formed on his lips, obviously pressing his cheek into Hux’s hand. “I’ll make it up to you.”

“You don’t drive?” Hux asked, surprised, and removed his hand from Ren’s cheek. “Do you take the bus?”

“Rarely, I mostly walk everywhere.”

“Is there a reason for that?” Hux asked  
It wasn’t a big deal, but considering the size of the city they lived in, that didn’t seem all that efficient.

“Don’t like cars, never have,” Ren shrugged. Hux simply hummed in response, which Ren took that as invitation to leave, stepping away and heading towards the front door and grabbing his jacket that still hung on the coat hanger. “I’ll be there for work on Monday. Thank you again. For everything.”

“It’s not a problem,” Hux told him. There was an awkward moment where they both just stared at each other in front of Hux’s front door. Should they hug? Kiss? They’ve already had sex, so it was strange that Hux felt nervous about touching Ren now. They had somewhat confessed to each other yesterday, right? So shouldn’t they do something? 

Hux seemed to not have the nerve to do anything, nor did Ren. “Later,” Ren said, opening the door and closing it behind him. 

Hux frowned, realizing he had missed his chance to do something more, but he figured it may have been for the better, to wait and let things happen naturally. Especially considering what he had learned about Ren, and how his whole world had just changed. Maybe he’d know what to do come Monday? Maybe they both would.

\---

“You seem to be in a better mood,” Phasma smiled at Hux over the table in the breakroom. “Did you talk to Ren or something?”

Hux hesitated in replying, looking at Phasma. He probably shouldn’t tell her anything about Ren, well the obvious things like the shapeshifting and the fight in his apartment, or really any of the details, he realized. Hux hadn’t realized there wasn’t really much he _could_ tell Phasma. “We talked, we’re okay now,” Hux went with the simple answer. Just enough so she’d stop asking his current status when it came to Ren.

“Just like that?” Phasma asked. Hux nodded simply, which made Phasma give a suspicious glare. “Are you at least done with all that talk about him and Matt being the same person now?”

Hux bit his lip, as part of him wanted to have an ‘I told you so’ moment with Phasma and say he was right all along. That he wasn’t crazy. But alas, “You were right.”

That gave Phasma a satisfied smile. “Good to have that behind us then,” she replied back, opening a bag of chips. “Nothing else to report then?”

Hux shrugged his shoulders, opening up his own food. There was nothing else he figured he was allowed to say about Ren, all things considered. So instead he contented himself with enjoying Phasma’s company and changing the subject.

The rest of the day passed by as per usual. Nothing noteworthy or unusual occurred, which was nice considering the weekend he’d had. Once it hit five o’clock and the floor started to clear out with people going home, Hux felt truly relaxed. He had work to do still, as always. But today, Hux looked forward to Kylo Ren’s usual visits after everyone else left.

Hux tried his best to focus on his coding, but his eyes kept drifting to the clock on his desk. It was foolish, really. He should be focused completely on his work, since that was the point of him staying late every day. But Hux couldn’t deny how nice it was having casual talks with the other man, eating food and relaxing. Not to mention, now that Hux knew, he still had questions to ask Ren. He knew some Ren probably wouldn’t want to answer just yet, but he wanted to ask.

It was an hour and a half after closing for Ren to make his first walk on the floor. Hux immediately perked up in his seat once he realized the other presence on the floor with him, but quickly tried to hide his interest. He didn’t want Ren knowing he was overly excited about this, after all. So Hux, trying to act casual, turned to his computer and continued working.

“Back to late nights?” Hux heard a voice ask behind him. Hux turned around to see Ren standing in his doorway, face seemingly impassive.

“Have to get the work done somehow,” Hux replied with a shy smile, turning his chair around to talk face to face. “How are you?”

“Better,” Ren replied, holding up his arm and pulling back his sleeve to show the scratches left from the fight with Rey. “Told you I heal fast,” Ren said with a smile, quickly pulling his sleeve back down. 

“That’s good,” Hux replied with a nod. Hux sat up to look over his cubicle walls, knowing no one else was in the room but still wanted to make sure before asking, “Is there anything you shifters can’t do?”

Ren looked surprised at the question, also taking a quick glance around the room. “Past size limits and animal based things only, I’m not really sure,” Ren admitted with a shrug.

Hux nodded in response, looking Ren over. Particularly at his face, examining the slope of his nose and the pout of his lips. “No one else knows about you past me, right?”

Ren, again, looked surprised at the question. “No,” he replied, though made a face. “Well, sort of,” he started, scratching the back of his head. “Besides other shifters, my dad knows, and his old best friend who basically lived at our house knows. My childhood friend knew, but he was practically adopted by my mother so only people close to the family or other shifters are allowed to know.”

“Hmm,” Hux hummed in response. “You say you have difficulty controlling the shifting, how hasn’t anyone else found out? Especially when you’re at work.” 

Ren let out a soft laugh, hand going to the brim of his hat. “Well,” he started before pulling his hat up and revealing a pair of cat ears folded close to his head before he quickly pulled it back down. “I have my hair cover my ears and always wear the hat to hide anything showing. The ears always come first when I impulse shift, the tail is next but I normally realize I’m doing it before that happens. It’s how I get away with things.”

Hux let out a soft laugh too, it was sort of humorous that Ren had it planned out like that. Instead of just learning how to control his shifting, he had backups to cover it up. “Why not just learn to not do the impulse changes?”

Ren frowned, pouting his lip out. “That’s a lot easier said than done,” he replied sharply. “Changing is emotionally triggered, I’d have to get a control on those first and well… I’m working on it.”

“Sorry,” Hux apologized, realizing he hit a soft spot. Instead of continuing on that subject, he changed it. “Why a panther?”

Ren still seemed annoyed at Hux asking about his control, but eventually answered with a shrug. “I thought they were cool as a kid,” he answered. “Jaguars are huge, efficient hunters. I saw one at a zoo when I was really young, it was one of the few animals that didn’t seem either terrified or angry with me.” There was another pause in Ren’s response, as if considering something. He looked at Hux’s face curiously, before continuing. “We normally have what my uncle called ‘associate animals’. It’s what we default shift to when we’re threatened or scared. Mine is black panthers, Rey is servals. Not everyone has just one, my uncle has many. But it’s common with every other shifter I’ve met.”

“How many of you are out there?” Hux asked curiously. 

Ren shrugged at that. “My uncle is convinced we as a species are almost extinct. So not many, I know since I left home I haven’t met a single one besides myself. My family lives two states away from here.”

Hux raised an eyebrow at that. “You traveled through two states to get away from your family?” Hux realized Rey also must have followed him through two states to find him. 

“I’ll probably have to travel further to get away from them again,” Ren complained. “Anyways, I have to keep patrolling, I’ll be back soon.” Ren said with a nod, and left Hux’s cubicle space without waiting for a reply.

Hux turned to continue his work and stew over Ren’s comments, really wondering what Ren had planned. Was he actually going to just leave like that? How many jobs had Ren left because of being discovered before? Was this common for him to do? Was Hux really going to just go back to his everyday life as it was before Ren, knowing that creatures like him exist in the world? It was all a lot to consider. But Hux tried to drown himself in his work to ignore it all.

He ended up being so successful in focusing on his work, he jumped a little when Ren knocked on his cubicle wall to get his attention some time later. Turning around, he saw Ren standing there holding two bags of chinese food. Checking the time, Hux realized it was already almost eight. At least he had done a lot of work.

Without even talking, the two settled into rhythm together as they had before. Hux was given fried rice and Ren focused in on some sweet and sour chicken. They ate in silence, together, and Ren seemed really relaxed in the cubicle with him. It was nice.

“Thanks for the food,” Hux told him as he got halfway through his rice and set it aside.

“Anytime,” Ren smiled at Hux, which for some reason made Hux blush a bit. It was silly, why was he blushing over Ren’s smile? It did look rather pleased right now.

“Why are you always giving me food anyway?” Hux asked, curious. Since their interactions originally started with a gift of candy on his desk and shared meals, Hux rationalized it must mean something.

“Oh, um,” Ren startled, his face blushing for some reason. At least they were both red now. “You’re always here so late so I assumed you were hungry…” Kylo looked up to meet Hux’s eyes, searching. Hux stared back confused. Ren looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. After a few moments of silence, Ren turned away and focused on finishing his box of chicken.

Hux didn’t say anything, instead just dabbed his hands to clean them with a napkin. He was about to return to his work and leave Ren to it before Hux heard his quiet voice speak, “Actually,” Kylo began, “there’s more to it…”

That made Hux turn, looking down at Kylo who was kneeling on the ground near the entrance. He seemed to be staring at anything except for Hux. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Giving food might be, um, a mating tactic for us. So to speak.” Hux gave Ren a confused look, so Ren seemed to backpedal. “It’s not that weird, I mean it’s just how we typically court, you know? Like you humans sort of do that, by buying dinner for each other. It’s like that I guess, if that’s not too weird,” Ren seemed to ramble, panicked and standing up. “I’m sorry, I should have made my intentions known from the start, I’ll stop-”

“Kylo,” Hux paused him by raising a hand. “It’s fine, it just never made sense to me. It’s not bad.” Hux stood up and approached Kylo, who still looked like he wanted to run. “I guess it’s sort of flattering,” Hux admitted. “You liked me enough to try courting me with greasy fast food?” Hux asked with a tease in his voice, but stood closer to Ren.

Ren’s face was bright red now. “I should have gotten you something better, fruits or something. I just wasn’t sure what you liked and-”

Kylo was hushed with a finger to his lips, Hux’s other hand going to cup his jaw. “It’s fine,” Hux replied, dropping his finger. “It is what I liked, I liked your gifts.” Hux had a smile on his lips, standing close to Ren, really feeling his body heat. Ren’s face was still heated but he seemed to stop panicking, and finally meeting Hux’s gaze. There was a moment of silence between them, Ren looking nervous. Hux wanted to let Ren make the next move, but he seemed too nervous to. So Hux gave the push, “Since you fed me again today,” Hux’s other hand went to Ren’s upper arm and held him gently, “that means you’re still trying to court me, correct?”

Ren’s eyes widened at the statement, swallowing to clear his voice before speaking. “I-I guess,” Ren replied hesitantly. “If that’s okay, with you?”

“Perfectly okay,” Hux said and paused. Ren wasn’t leaning forward, and frankly Hux was tired of waiting. Hux closed the distance between them, leaning forward and pushing their lips together. Ren seemed startled by the kiss, before quickly relaxing into it, and then kissed back rather enthusiastically. They fumbled to get a good pace going between them, but soon Hux parted his lips and allowed Ren to deepen the kiss between them. Ren’s mouth mostly tasted like chinese food but it wasn’t off putting. Hux made an enthusiastic sound in response, his hand that was on Ren’s jaw pushing further to cup the back of Ren’s head and his hair.

Hux paused for a moment, noticing quickly that Ren’s human ears were gone again. He startled, stopped the kiss, turning to look at the side of Ren’s face and move his hair around. Gone they were, and it made Hux chuckle under his breath. 

“Sorry,” Ren panted. “Strong emotions, shifting.” Ren took a step back, adjusting his hat subtly. “I-I liked that but,” he looked over his shoulder towards the ceiling, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. “Cameras, I almost got a tail over that.”

Hux couldn’t help but laugh, “Almost turning into a panther over a kiss? You’re funny.” Hux relaxed, feeling the tension that existed between them since Friday clear away. “I guess I should go for the day, don’t think First Order Inc. wants to pay us to make out after all.” 

Ren nodded, grabbing the remains of their food and quickly leaving the area. “I’ll meet you downstairs,” he called behind him as he left, disappearing down the stairs.

Hux quickly collected his things and got ready to leave, grabbing the remains of his fried rice that Ren had missed before leaving his space and heading downstairs as well. Ren was waiting for him, as promised, and quickly checked him off as leaving before joining Hux at the door.

There was a bit of an awkward silence between them, but Ren seemed to end it by leaning over and nuzzling Hux’s neck with his nose. Hux stiffened at the weird action, but Ren leaned up to kiss his lips then. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” Ren asked sweetly, staying close but leaning away to give Hux space.

Hux tried to relax before replying. “Yes,” Hux replied, adjusting his coat. Hux waited a second as Ren opened the door for him. The question he needed to know the answer to was on the tip of his tongue. Hux took a deep breath before just blurting it out. “Are you still leaving town?” Hux asked, “Just, so I know.”

Ren raised an eyebrow at that, biting his lip in thought. Ren seemed to hesitate for a while, looking everywhere past Hux. After a full minute of waiting, Ren spoke. “I...I don’t think so. I don’t know what I’m going to do with Rey when she comes back, but, you don’t want me to leave, right?” Ren asked, almost sounding vulnerable.

“I don’t,” Hux said quickly. He clamped his mouth shut realizing how desperate that sounded. “But if you feel leaving is for the better, that’s fine too.”

“I don’t know what’s for the better,” Ren admitted. “I do know that I’ve, well, never had a reason to stay somewhere before. So maybe this is for the better to stay?” Ren shrugged, before looking outside. “You should get home, but know that I’m thinking I’m going to stay… I just need to prove I can control things before Rey gets back.”

“I can help,” Hux offered, stepping closer to Ren. “I...don’t know how, but I’ll help any way I can. Okay?”

Ren smiled at that, leaning over to nuzzle Hux’s neck again affectionately. “I appreciate it, thank you.” Ren stepped back. “Now get home, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Hux smiled back at Ren, “I’ll see you too.” With that, Hux left out the front door and headed towards his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't promise when the next chapter will be at this point. School is brutal and I have a million other ideas I want to write for right now. I also don't know where I'm taking the next chapter, I have ideas but none of them really connect. I'm open to ideas if you want to give some input, it might help me! Thank you for the kudos and comments, they're always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to:  
> [@saltandlimes](http://saltandlimes.tumblr.com/) [@Vmprsm](http://vmprsm.tumblr.com/) (who beta'd this) and [@shortarms-bigteeth](http://shortarms-bigteeth.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Without their help and encouragement, I wouldn't have gotten the courage to write this AU. If you want to join me in the garbage dump, hit me up at [@tezzypants](http://tezzypants.tumblr.com/)


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